Dying To Hold You
by loopydreamer
Summary: This is a story about how Mac and Jo try to deal with their growing feelings toward each other after the John Curtiis Case. The story is centred around season 8 episode 10, Clean Sweep. I will change a few things that happened in the episode. This is to spice up the Angst between Jo and Mac. There will be action later on in the story. :
1. Chapter 1

_**HEY :)**_

_**SO HERE'S THE CHALLENGE I'M SETTING MY SELF - TO WRITE A STORY WHERE MAC AND JO ARE NOT INJURED, HURT OR KIDNAPPED AT ALL. AND I'M GOING TO DO IT. LOL! IT WILL BE MOSTLY ANGST/ ROMANCE, BUT CENTRED AROUND SEASON 8 EPISODE 10. CLEAN SWEEP. SO THAT CASE WILL BE HAPPENING AND I KNOW I SAID NO ACTION, BUT I'M GOING TO PUT A LITTLE IN, JUST TO ADD TO THE ANGST. THE MAIN THREAD THOUGH, WILL BE HOW MAC AND JO DEAL WITH THEIR GROWING FEELINGS TOWARD ONE ANOTHER. . . AND I MANAGED TO GET THE FIRST CHAPTER UP TONIGHT :) . . .SO HERE WE GO.**_

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…..._**DYING TO HOLD YOU**_...

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…..._**CHAPTER 1.**_...

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Jo wandered around her apartment, more bored than she'd ever felt in her life. She slumped back down on the couch and checked the clock. It was 19:00 on a Friday evening. At least she only had the weekend left. Thank God. She was back at work on Monday. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She frowned. _Who can that be?_ Quickly, she rose from the couch and walked to her front door. She looked through the peep hole and smiled. "Mac."

_After her ordeal with John Travis a couple of weeks back, Mac had insisted on stayed at her apartment for five days to take care of her. She'd tried to convince him that she was fine but each time, night fell the memories returned and with them the terrifying thoughts of what could have happened to her if she'd been too injured to shoot Travis dead. She'd tried not to let the fear show, but Mac saw right through her. He was there for her, shaking her awake at night when she had the nightmares. He was there when she felt like crap and just wanted to veg out in her apartment. He wasn't going to let that happen, so he'd drag her out to Central Park every day and bought her a hot dog and ice cream. They'd also spent time most evenings together. He'd taken her to the cinema a few times, and a couple of nights ago they'd gone to the fun fair down at Battery Park. There was a whole new side to Mac Taylor, Jo hadn't seen before and she liked it._

Jo unlocked the door and swung it open. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Mac walked into the apartment and through to her kitchen with several bags in his hand. "I left work early. Thought I would cook us a meal tonight."

She followed him into the kitchen. "You didn't have to do that."

Mac glanced back at her, suddenly distracted for several seconds by her deep, brown eyes. He felt his pulse quicken and quickly looked away. "I . . . wanted to."

Jo tried to peek in the bags as he dumped them on the counter. "So what are we having?" she asked, with that adorable grin on her face.

Mac cleared his throat. "Uh. . ." He reached into one of the bags and brought out the Braising Steak and a large ripe Avocado.

Jo's eyes brightened.

"We're cooking Black Bean Chilli and Avocado Salsa." He answered.

Her eyes flashed back at his. "I love Chilli and Avocado."

He smiled back at her. "I know."

She frowned, tried to rack her brains. _How does he know?_

"You told me once."

"Oh . . ." It was like he'd read her mind. ". . . Did I?"

"Yea." He finished emptying the rest of the ingredients on the kitchen counter. "When we went out and celebrated Danny's birthday."

"That was nearly a year ago."

"I have a good memory. You know that." he answered quickly, avoiding her gaze.

She smiled. "Yea. I do." She leaned back from the counter and walked toward him. "Okay. Let me help."

Mac looked back at her. "No. You're relaxing with a glass of wine and I'm cooking the meal."

She sighed heavily. "Mac. I've been bored for hours. "Let me do something. How about a chop the Avocado." She reached out to grab it.

"Oh no you don't." Mac gripped her wrist. "If I let you anywhere near that Avocado, you'll end up eating it." he chuckled.

She laughed back. "I will not. Now let me have it." She tried to get to it, but Mac reached out and grasped her other wrist.

Before he knew what was happening, he had her pinned against the wall in the corner of the kitchen.

Their eyes locked on each other like steel to magnet.

Never in her life had she seen such desperate desire in a man's eyes. Desperate and raw . . . so raw, it excited her. She struggled for equilibrium and lost, when he wrapped her tightly against him. All she felt now was his nearness, his hardness and it sent her tummy tumbling as the sexual attraction suddenly speared through her. She loved how he felt against her. She loved the feel of his hands on her.

Lately, it seemed that all he could do was look at her and a tension coiled so tight inside it made his chest ache. Touching her right here, right now, that ache had suddenly intensified to a need he couldn't control. The heat, the desire swept through him and he lowered his head until his lips were inches from hers.

For an immeasurable moment they just stood there staring into each others eyes, then she saw him relent to the heat between them.

Hungry to taste her, he kissed her lips first.

She threaded her fingers into his hair, then clutched his shoulders, inflamed with hunger, as he deepened the kiss.

When she groaned his name it sent erotic sensations cascading through him. _Oh God. No, No, No._ He heaved a breath to try and regain control and forced himself to pull away.

They were both breathing raggedly as they stared back at each other in shock.

_Ah crap. What have I done?_ Mac quickly dropped his hands to his side and backed away. "I . . . I should go." He whirled around and headed out of the kitchen.

Jo pushed herself from the wall and hurried after him. "Mac wait. You can't just leave . . ."

He turned back to her and gently pressed his finger to her lips. "I have to leave, or we're both going to end up . . ." _Damn it._ "We're going to forget this happened okay?"

Her eye's widened. "You want to forget this happened?"

"Yes." Without another word, he spun back around and tore across the room and out the door.

Jo waited, hoped, prayed he'd come back, but he didn't.

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Mac walked up to the body and glanced across at Don. "Well this is a great start to a Monday morning."

Don nodded. "Hope you skipped breakfast." He glanced back down at the burnt remains. "Let me introduce you to Ryan Richards. 25 years old."

"How do you know?" Mac asked.

"There's his driving license." Don pointed.

Mac knelt down and took a closer look at the singed driving licence. He gazed back at what was left of Ryan Richards. "He was drenched in accelerants and was allowed to burn for quite sometime."

"Someone wanted the fire to do as much damage as possible."

Mac glanced back at Don. "Someone wanted to destroy the evidence." Mac got to his feet and checked the cordoned off area was secure. Then he and Don started to walk back up the Alley

"What do we know about this guy?" Mac asked

"It turns out Richards was a rising star on the cage fighting circuit." Don answered.

Mac raised his eye brows. "I've seen a few matches. It's a brutal sport."

"It's an excuse for two grown men to beat the bloody pulp out of each other is what it is."

Mac stopped and looked back at Don. "So you're not a fan?"

Don turned back and smiled. "I didn't say that."

Mac rolled his eyes and started walking again.

Don continued. "Now I'm hearing that Richards absolutely annihilated his toughest competitor at an event last night. A muscle head named Petrov. Put himself in prime position to win the title next month, so this guy was on the verge to some serious fame."

They both stopped at the top of the Alley. Mac glanced back at Don. "Success could put a target on his back." Mac looked down the narrow alley. "With the state of the remains, it could take some time for Sid to determine a C.O.D, if he can at all. Until then we wont know if Richards died here, or was burned and dumped here."

Don scanned the area. "I'll start whacking the bushes. See if anyone was itching for a death match with our fighter outside the cage."

"Okay. Let me know what you get." Mac started to walk off.

"Mac."

He turned back to Don. "Yea?"

"How's Jo?"

Even the sound of her name, got Mac's pulse racing like a freight train. "She's uh. . . She's fine. She's back at work today." he answered quickly.

"Uh huh?" A smile crept across Don's face. "Did you two enjoy the fun fair down at Battery Park Wednesday night? Oh and . . . I'm sure she loved the restaurant you took her to on Thursday. "

_Oh crap!_ Mac stared sternly back at Don. "I've just been helping her get back on her feet. . ." He glanced up the street and sighed. " . . . after the crap she went through with that Sonofabitch Travis." he muttered angrily.

Suddenly Don didn't feel much like teasing Mac any more. His smile faded. "She's okay though right?" he repeated, this time with a trace of concern in his voice.

"She's fine Don. I wouldn't have let her come back today if she wasn't. She's tough. You know that." He assured him. Mac quickly turned and walked away, not giving Don a chance to say another word.

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Mac spent the next couple of hours back at the department trying to keep himself busy. Trying not to think about that amazing kiss, he and Jo shared on Friday night. They'd both been avoiding each other like the plaque since she turned up at work this morning. He'd breathed a little easier when he saw her disappear in the elevator with Danny an hour ago. She was busy helping him wrap up a case back at the station. He pushed out a breath and spent the next fifteen minutes forcing himself to to focus. He had Ryan Richards address now, but he'd been unable to find any additional information on him. He heard a tap on his door and looked up.

Sheldon walked in. "We've finished at the Crime Scene Mac."

"What did you find?" he asked.

"Well we know what type of accelerant started the fire. It was Gasoline."

"Gasoline?"

Mac's eyes flashed to the door. Jo walked in avoiding his gaze.

"Is this the accelerant you found on Ryan Richards body?" She asked Sheldon.

"It sure is."

"I just took a look at the body myself when Sid was taking it into the morgue." She frowned. "What kept it burning so long?"

"It's called 'the wick effect'". Mac answered.

Jo sighed inwardly and slowly turned to Mac, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "The Wick Effect?"

He gazed at her for a couple of seconds before continuing. "Yes. It's when clothing acts like a wick of a candle, turned inside out."

"I remember now. It feeds the flames with a continuous supply of fuel in the form of melting human fat." Jo finished.

"It's particularly effective, and particularly disgusting." Sheldon concluded.

Mac tore his eyes from Jo. "Did you find anything else?"

Sheldon held up the plastic dish in his hand.

Jo frowned, as she looked in the container. "You found metal fragments."

"Yes. I'm going to the lab to run them through G.M.S."

"I want the results as soon as you have them."

"Sure Mac."

"And. . . Close the door on you way out." He added quickly.

Quickly, Jo looked back at Mac.

Sheldon shifted his eyes from Mac to Jo. "Okay." He frowned inwardly, then disappeared out of his office, closing the door behind him.

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Jo jumped in before Mac had a chance to say anything.

"Danny and I have wrapped up the Hillview case. I'll go and help Sheldon with the metal fragments." She started to walk to his door.

"Jo wait a minute."

She slowed to a stop, blew out a long breath and turned back to him. "Yes."

Mac was suddenly stuck for words. _Crap. What the hell am I suppose to say?_

Jo was feeling more frustrated by the second. She needed to get out of here. "Look. I'll just be in with Sheldon if you want me."

He dashed around the desk and across his office so fast, she didn't even manage to grab the door handle, before he slammed to a stop in front of it.

He glanced quickly down the corridor, before meeting her defiant gaze. "Okay. We just. . . need to clear the air here."

She crossed her arms and stared back at him. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mac raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"I said, I have no idea. . ."

"I know what you said Jo." he interrupted, feeling suddenly agitated. His breath stalled in his throat when he saw the hurt flicker in her eye's. It was the same look she'd given him Friday night. And Immediately he recalled in his mind what he'd said to her in the heat of the moment.

_'We're going to forget this happened okay?'_

_'You want to forget this happened?'_

'_Yes.' _

He sighed inwardly. "Oh God."

She faked a frown.

God. She was throwing this back in his face. "Look. We need to talk."

"About what?"

He raised his voice. "Okay! That's enough Jo. I get it!"

Jo stared angrily at him. "You want to talk about what happened now? I thought we were suppose to forget about it Mac!"

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Lindsay slowed to a stop up the corridor when she heard shouts coming from Mac's office. Her eyes widened. _My God. Jo and Mac are arguing? They never argue._

Danny wandered out of the lab and saw Lindsay standing in the corridor. He walked up to her."Hey Linds. Are you free? We can go get some lunch."

"Shhh Danny." She pulled him to the edge of the glass panelling. "Can you hear that? Mac's got Jo in his office and they're arguing like crazy."

Suddenly he heard Jo shouting. His eyes flashed back at Lindsay. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I can't hear that clearly from here, but If I move up the corridor any further, they'll spot me." Lindsay gazed back at Danny. "I think Mac just said. 'Okay. That's enough Jo. I get it.' He was pretty angry."

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Jo continued to stare defiantly at Mac. "I've forgotten about what happened Friday night already! It meant nothing!"

Mac's eye's widened. "Nothing?!"

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Danny quickly looked back at Lindsay. "Friday night?"

Lindsay's eye's flashed back at his. "Oh my God. What happened Friday night?"

Adam walked up to Lindsay and Danny. "What's going on?"

Danny pulled Adam back against the glass panelling. "Shhh. We're trying to listen here." he whispered.

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Jo released a long, pent up breath and tried to get to the door. "We can't talk about this now."

Mac shifted his eyes back along the corridor. He couldn't see anyone so he took a step toward her and brought his hands to her shoulders. "Look me in the eye and tell me it meant nothing Jo?"

Slowly she met his intense gaze "You answer it first."

My God. Why had he asked that damn question and what the hell was he doing touching her now. He let go of her shoulders. God he was a jerk. His method of establishing professional distance had been as effective as teats on a boar.

For the longest moment they stood there. Both of them refusing to answer the damn question.

Mac let out a resigned breath. "You're right. We can't talk about this now."

Jo sighed heavily and looked away.

Mac pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is Ryan Richards address. He's married to a Lisa Richards. I need you to go and talk. See if you can find out if Ryan had any enemies."

"Fine." she murmured.

"Look Jo. . ."

"Mac. Just move away from the door and let me go back to work!"

Mac pushed out a long, forlorn breath and stepped away from the door.

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Lindsay heard Mac's door come bursting open. "Oh God." She pulled Danny and Adam back up the corridor and they dived into the tech lab.

Lindsay peeked back down the corridor and saw Jo tear out of Mac's office and disappear into the lift. She released a heavy sigh and turned back to Danny and Adam. "Jo looks really upset. This is bad."


	2. Chapter 2

_**HEY :)**_

_**JUST WANT TO APOLOGISE FOR MESSING UP THE LAST CHAPTER AND TYPING 'JOHN TRAVIS' INSTEAD OF 'JOHN CURTIS.' I'M SUCH A DORK. LOL!**_

_**ANYWAY. HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**_

_**PLEASE R&R :)**_

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_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

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_Mac stepped toward Jo and brought his hands to her shoulders. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that meant nothing."_

_Slowly, she met his intense gaze. "Why don't you answer that question first."_

_My God. What was he doing? And why the hell was he touching her? Quickly he let go of her shoulders. He was such a jerk. His method of establishing professional distance was as effective as teats on a boar._

_For the longest moment they just stood there, staring at each other both of them refusing to answer the damn question._

_Mac let out a resigned breath. "You're right. We cant talk about this now."_

_She sighed heavily and looked away._

_He pulled out a slip of paper from his Jacket and handed it to her. "This is Ryan Richards address. I need you to go and talk to his wife, Lisa Richards. See if you can find out if Ryan had any enemies."_

_Jo snatched the paper from his hand. "Fine." she murmured._

"_Look Jo . . ."_

"_Mac. Just move out of my way." She interrupted. "and let me get back to work."_

_He pushed out a long, forlorn breath and stepped to away from the door._

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_Lindsay heard Mac's door burst open. "Oh God." Quickly she pulled Danny and Adam up the corridor and they dashed into the tech lab. Lindsay looked back and saw Jo bolt out of Mac's office and disappear into the elevator. She released a heavy sigh and glanced back at Danny and Adam. "Jo is really upset. This is very bad."_

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_**CHAPTER 2.**_

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When he could breath again and the anger at himself had subsided, Mac went back to his desk and tried to work, but he couldn't concentrate on a damn thing. His mind kept flashing back to the Thursday before last. Everything that had transpired, started that evening, when he saw Jo through the fog in her bathroom mirror. It was too outrageous to even contemplate, let alone quantify. He had no one but himself to blame for this mess.

After an hour of failing miserably to focus on the notes in front of him, he decided to take a walk. Weary to the bones, he left his office, and a few minutes later found himself outside the morgue. When he walked in, Sid was gazing inquisitively at Ryan Richards Skull.

"Have you found anything yet?"Mac asked.

Sid looked up. "Mac." He frowned across the room as he wandered toward him. "It doesn't look like you had much sleep last night?"

"I'm fine Sid."

"I was just saying the same thing to Jo earlier. She looked pretty tired too and . . ."

Mac interrupted him quickly. "Have you found anything?" he repeated, this time with a stern edge to his tone.

Sid's eye's widened slightly. He stared across at Mac for a few more seconds, before clipping on his glasses and turning back to Richards skull. "Er. . . Yes actually I have. As you can see there are fractures across the surface of the cranium."

Mac moved closer to Sid and had a look. "I see them."

"These tiny fractures would have been caused by the fire, but can you see this fissure here?"

"Yea."

"The black marks around the side here, tells us he was struck on the head before he was burned to death."

Mac glanced back at Sid. "Could it have been at the cage fight?"

"No. A head trauma this severe would have sent him to the hospital." Sid answered.

"So. Someone could have blind sided him after the fight and struck him on the back of the head." Mac suggested.

"But that may not be what killed him."

Mac and Sid looked up and saw Sheldon enter the morgue.

Sheldon continued. "I ran the metal nuggets through G.M.S and they came back as lead alloy."

Mac raised his eye brows. "A bullet."

Sid took another look at the fissure. "Fused in the base of the skull."

"Yea. It looks like our C.O.D is a G.S.W." Sheldon added.

Mac pushed out a breath. "So. . . Richards was struck on the head, shot in the back, then lit on fire."

Sid stared back at Mac. "Now that's what I call overkill."

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They couldn't move forward with the case until Jo got back from speaking with Lisa Richards, so Lindsay, Danny and Adam went and got a bite to eat at the Diner across the road. When they walked inside, they saw Don at the counter grabbing some fresh donuts and a coffee.

"Hey."

Don turned around. "Hey guys. How's it going?"

Lindsay pushed out a breath. "Fine." she murmured.

Don frowned when he saw all three of them with that glum look on their faces. "Has something come up with the Richards Case?"

"Oh no." Adam added. "This is much more juicy than the case."

Lindsay slapped him in the arm. "Be quiet Adam." she sighed.

"What's going on?" Don asked, slightly confused.

Danny looked around. "You busy right now?"

"I have twenty minutes."

"Okay. We'll grab that table in the corner and fill you in."

Lindsay rolled her eyes and followed them across the Diner.

Don eyed the three of them when they sat down at the table. "Come on then guys. Spill it."

Adam leaned toward him. "Something is going on between Jo and Mac."

A smile spread across Don's lips. "I know. A few Officers have seen them together these last few weeks. Jack saw them outside the cinema one night. . ."

Lindsay raised her eyebrows at him. "He did?"

"Yep. Gary took his kids down to the funfair at Battery Park last Wednesday. Guess who he saw on the Ferris Wheel?"

Danny's eye's widened. "Mac and Jo were at a Funfair?"

"Uh huh. And Thursday night Tom Bruce had a call out to a domestic disturbance along 2nd Avenue. He was passing by Palm Restaurant when he saw Jo and Mac eating inside. He said they looked pretty. . . close."

Adam smiled. "My God this is . . ." He stopped himself short and his smile faded. _And now their fighting?_

Don chuckled. "I'm also hearing rumours that they were at the Birdland Jazz Club abut a week ago. . ." His smile vanished when he noticed that the three of them were looking even more miserable.

Danny leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Well. If our assumptions are correct and Mac and Jo have got . . ." He cleared his throat. "a little closer. We have trouble in paradise."

Don frowned. "What?"

Lindsay glanced back at Don. "They were arguing in Mac's office about an hour ago."

Don raised his eyebrows. "They were arguing? Mac and Jo don't argue."

Adam pushed out a breath. "They do now."

Don grabbed a donut from his bag and took a bite. "Ah don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing. It's probably about a case or something."

"This wasn't about work Don. This was about something that happened on Friday night."

Don started choking on his donut. He grabbed his coffee and took a gulp. Several seconds later, he was able to speak again. "Are you sure?"

"I heard it too." Lindsay piped in. "Then Adam here decided to be a dare devil. He moved a bit further down the corridor and heard Mac say something else." Lindsay gazed across at him.

Adam leaned back to Don. "He has his hands on her shoulders and says. . . 'Look me in the eyes and tell me that meant nothing.'"

Don's eye's widened. "Jesus Christ. They've started something."

Lindsay rubbed at her forehead. "Yea, and now Mac's frankly scared as hell."

"Why Mac?"

"Oh come on Danny. You know what Mac's like. When was he last in a relationship."

"Peyton. . . God was it that many years ago?" Adam asked dumbfounded.

Don looked back at Danny. "Lindsay's right you know." He sighed. "I'm going to have to take some beers round Mac's place and give him a crash course on how to chill out and relax around women."

Lindsay chuckled. "And you're the master, when it comes to relationships?"

Adam burst out laughing. "That's a good one Linds."

Don shot them both a stern look. "I know enough about women." He rose from the table and glanced down at his watch. "I've got to head back." he sighed.

Danny's smile faded. "Seriously Don, I think we should all stay out of this. Let them sort it out themselves. You might end up making it worse."

"Well it sounds to me like this couldn't get any worse right now. Leave it to me. I'll sort it out."

Lindsay watched Don head back across the Diner and out the door. "Great." she turned back to Danny and Adam. "I knew we shouldn't have told him."

"He would have found out soon enough. Word gets round, you know that."

Lindsay shook her head. One thing was for certain. She didn't feel like eating now.

Suddenly Don's phone trilled in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked caller ID. He glanced back at Adam and Lindsay. "It's Jo."

Adam and Lindsay exchanged glances.

Danny pressed the phone to his ear. "Hey. How's it going?" He cringed. _Why did I just say that?_

Lindsay rolled her eyes and chucked the menu back on the table.

"Uh huh . . . Really? That's good. . . . Yea we're just across the road. We'll see you in a few." He hung up and pushed the phone back in his pocket. "We've got to get back."

They rose from the table. "What's she found out?" Adam asked.

"Apparently. Ryan had a stalker when they lived back in Colorado."

Lindsay stopped at the main doors and glanced back at Danny. "Really?"

"Yep. She's going to fill us in on the rest back at the department."

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_**Thirty minutes later,**_ Danny knocked on Jo's door and entered her office.

"Hey. I've just come off the phone, with the Chief at the Denver P.D. "We're dealing with a whack job here – a relentless stalker."

"Were there any physical attacks?" she asked.

"No. Just a whole ton of death threats. Oh and he broke into their house and left a cake frosted in dog faeces on the kitchen counter."

"Delightful." Jo murmured. "And they couldn't catch this guy?"

"The authorities ran every lead, but came up short. Whoever this guy was, he knew how to avoid getting caught." Danny sighed. "This psycho has decided to step it up to the next level, so hopefully he'll make a mistake."

"I hope you're right Danny."

Lindsay walked into Jo's office next. "Okay. So I searched Ryan's laptop and found three dozen threatening Emails from the same person, all though the last month from an untraceable web mail account." She smiled back at Jo. "The same account that was used in the Colorado threats."

"When was the last Email sent?"

"Twelve hours ago."

Jo glanced back at her. "Really?"

Danny raised his eyebrows as he looked down at the I Pad in Lindsay's hand.

"Yes. It says. 'Savour the victory now, because you'll be dead by morning.' And it came with this image attached."

Jo rounded her desk and took a look at Lindsay's I Pad. "It's a photo taken last night after Ryan won his fight."

Danny took another look at the photo. "It looks like that shot was taken from the bleachers."

"It was." Mac entered Jo's office and met her gaze. Their eyes locked for several seconds, before he handed Jo what Adam had been working on at the tech lab.

Danny and Lindsay exchanged knowing glances. You could just feel the tension thrumming in the air.

Mac turned back to Danny and Lindsay. "Adam calculated the relative spatial index. The perp is indeed sitting in the bleachers on the second row."

Jo looked closer at the zoomed in photo. "Could he not have rotated it, so we can see his face a little better.

Mac walked up to her and pointed at the guy in the picture. "He's wearing V.I.P Credentials."

Her pulse leaped at the shock of Mac's sudden close proximity. Something else reacted in shock too. _I'm not going to flinch. _She'd told herself, yet she couldn't keep from putting the photo on her desk and crossing her arms over her breasts to cover her body's reaction that was both knee-jerk and involuntary.

His gaze shifted to her mouth, then back to her eyes. She glanced back at him, her breath stalling in her throat. God. his eyes burned like a blue flame.

Lindsay stared back at Mac and Jo in shock.

Danny tried to keep from smiling. _Oh boy._ _Mac's fallen for Jo big time!_

Jo's breath whispered out a relieved little rush when Mac averted his attention back to the photo.

Mac exhaled a little unsteadily as he picked up the photo and pointed again at the V.I.P Credentials hanging around the guys neck. "This was the best Adam could do, but it's enough. We can just make out the code number. That will tell us who this card was issued too."

Lindsay cleared her throat. "Okay. Danny and I will make a few calls and find a name. It shouldn't take us long."

He was just gonna have to deal with this. If he and Jo continued to avoid each other, the team would figure something was wrong, then they would start nosing around. He couldn't let that happen. "Don's busy right now so I'm going to head off to the Cage Fighting Arena with Jo. We'll take a look around. Maybe some of the other fighters knew Ryan well enough to give us some answers."

It took every ounce of concentration Jo could muster just to keep from screaming.

"Okay. We'll call you on your cell when we have something." Danny replied. He grabbed Lindsay's arm discreetly, and pulled her out of Mac's office.

Jo turned to Mac. "I'll meet you there."

Mac sighed. "No. We'll take my car. Let's go."

Mac disappeared out her office and Jo raised her hand to her forehead. This was going way beyond crazy.

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Jo couldn't help but bury her feet against the floorboard and sink as far back in her seat as possible, as they cut down the nearly empty streets at breakneck speed. "God forbid that I point this out, but your breaking the speed limit Mac."

He glanced at the speedometer. "Nearly, but not quite."

Jo rolled her eyes and hit the button on the radio. Maybe some music would calm him down.

Suddenly the song started to blare out.

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_'Now It's speeding away from a safe place._

_Yeah. . . Your skin, the touch, the kiss.'_

_._

Jo's eye's flashed back to the radio. _Oh God. Why does 'lightning' have to be playing right at this_ _second._

_'The rush, too much and here it comes._

_When your lips touch mine, It's the kiss of life._

_I know. . . I know it's a little bit frightening,_

_We might as well we playing with lightning._

_We touch like . . .'_

_._

Mac slammed his finger down on the button and changed the station.

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_'Where have the times gone, _

_baby it's all wrong, _

_Where are the plans we made for two.'_

_._

He rested his elbow on the side window and swore under his breath. Now they were both stuck in this car listening to 'Payphone.'

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_'If happy ever after did exist,_

_I would still be holding you like this._

_All these fairytales are full if it._

_One more stupid love song, I'll be sick.'_

_._

Mac shook his head._ Ain't that the truth! _He switched the station again.

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_'Girl, I'm gonna show you how we do it,_

_And we start real slow.'_

_._

Jo closed her eye's and rubbed at her forehead. _Flo rida? My God._

_._

_'You just put your lips together,_

_And you come real close._

_Can you blow my . . .'_

_._

Jo slammed her hand on the button. "How about we turn this radio off."

"Good idea." Mac sighed.

She leaned back in her seat and stared out the side window at the street signs as they raced by, trying desperately to think of anything but the muddled mess her and Mac were in right now.

He couldn't stop thinking about how she'd stirred him deep inside, when they stood together in her office. He hadn't been able to stop himself moving toward her. He'd reacted like a damn moth to a flame and then he'd just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her again. God. He was trying to think about the case right now, but it wasn't coming easy right. He could still smell the scent of her shampoo. He loved the smell of it. The smell of her. _Damn it Mac. Get a grip. _Hetook a deep breath. "So fill me in."

She looked from the street to Mac's face. "On color coded traffic lights?"

He shifted his eyes to hers and almost smiled. "I didn't jump that light back there. It changed at the very last second.

She looked back at the windscreen and pushed out a long breath. "Fill you in about what?"

He looked back at the road. "Did Ryans wife tell you how long they'd been getting the death threats?"

"A couple of years."

Mac raised his eyebrows.

She gazed back at him. "I know. That's a long time. Danny told me the authorities ran every lead, but they just couldn't catch up with him. This guy knew how to cover his tracks."

"We'll get him."

The look he gave her when he met her eyes, made her blood run hot once again, but before she could recover from yet another bout of inexplicable sexual heat, he braked and whipped the car into a parking space. She was ready to jump out and get some distance from him, when she heard Mac's phone trill in his pocket.

"It's Danny." He pressed the phone to his ear. "Hey. What have you got? . . . Why doesn't that surprise me . . . Okay . . . Yea. I'll see you later." He hung up and looked back at Jo. "Take a guess."

She frowned and looked back at the outside training area. Then she saw him. She glanced back at Mac and smiled. "Derek Petrov."

He smiled back. "I knew you'd get it."

"It was a pretty easy guess."

They got out the car and walked across the road toward him.

"Derek Petrov?" Mac asked, trying to keep the disdain out of his voice.

Derek turned and eyed the both of them. "Who are you?"

Mac and Jo both flashed their badges at him.

"I'm Detective Mac Taylor and this is Detective Jo Danville. We're here to ask you a few questions."

He shifted his eyes at Mac then Jo. "What do you wanna know?"

Jo pulled out the photo and pointed at the V.I.P Pass. "We checked the code number."

He glared at her. "Yea. The V.I.P Pass was mine, but I was too busy in the cage last night to be using it."

Mac didn't like the way Petrov was looking at Jo right now. Struggling to control his anger, He stepped forward. "So who did you give the pass to?"

Petrov raised his voice at Mac. "I don't remember!"

What the hell was Mac doing? She shoved him out of the way and moved toward Petrov. "What did he look like?"

Rage surged through Petrov. "I said I don't know!" He stepped toward her and pushed her backwards. Fortunately she just managed to stay on her feet.

_Sonofabitch!_ Mac lunged forward and slammed Petrov against the wall.

Jo recovered quickly and drew her weapon.

Petrov went to swing his fist into Mac's face.

Jo raised her voice. "Don't even try it Petrov."

Petrov's eyes flashed back at hers. He saw her aiming a gun at him and he muttered a curse.

Mac cuffed him to the metal fencing and turned back to Jo. He let out a relieved breath. She was fine, and already on the phone to Don.

.

.

Don had been in the neighborhood, so he arrived in less than five minutes with a couple of officers. He jogged up to Mac and Jo. "What happened here?"

Mac glared back at Petrov who was still cuffed to the metal fencing and cursing one profanity after another. "Muscle head here's been arrested for assaulting a detective."

Don quickly scanned Mac and Jo for injuries.

Jo stared sternly back at Mac. "It's okay Don. I was only pushed."

Mac raised his eyebrows at her. "What would muscle head have done next if I hadn't stopped him." Mac started to walk toward her. "Oh and another thing. I stepped in front of you for a reason. I could see this coming."

"Mac. I'm not made of china. I can defend myself."

Don glanced at Mac and Jo. My God. There was a whole lot of tension and pent up emotions between these two.

Mac pointed back at Petrov. "Against him?"

"I have a gun Mac and in case you didn't notice I used it saving your butt."

Crap! They'd just been having a full blown argument in front of Don. Well that was just great. Mac cursed inwardly and glanced back at Don. "I'll come by the station when I've dropped Jo off."

She muttered under her breath and took the picture out of her pocket. "This guys holding boiled peanuts. I need to go and find some."

Mac frowned at her. "What?"

Why did he have to look so damn cute when he was confused?

_Good God._

Suddenly, she saw his Jaw clench, his eyes darken, and to her utter shock her pulse started pumping in places she didn't want to feel. Damnit. They were standing way too close to each other.

Shaken by the fact that she'd reacted to him in this way yet again, she quickly looked back down at the picture and tried to settle herself. "Look. I'll explain it to you when I get back. You go with Don now, and I'll drive your car back to the department when I'm finished here." She murmured.

What the hell? One minute they were arguing and the next they were. . . Jesus. They couldn't stop staring at each other? Don tore his eyes from them and tried to focus back on the job. "Nolan. Help me get this dolt, Petrov to the car."

"I'll stay and help you." Mac answered.

Jo sighed. "I can do this on my own. Just give me your keys and . . ."

"No." Mac interrupted. "We drove here together. We'll drive back together." He looked across at the Arena. "Besides, there maybe some more Jerk faces like Petrov around here." he muttered. He looked across at Don. "I'll meet you back at the station in about an hour!"

"Okay!" Don called back. He finished loading Petrov in the patrol car. Then looked back at them and noticed that Jo was looking totally exasperated again, as she followed Mac around the corner. Don shook his head and got in the car. He was definitely going round Mac's later with those beers.

.

.

_**SEE. . . I CAN WRITE A LITTLE ACTION WITHOUT JO GETTING HURT. ;)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**HEY :)**_

_**SO QUITE ALOT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THIS CHAPTER. ;) I THINK YOU'LL LIKE IT!**_

_**AND THANKYU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS (((HUGS))))) xx**_

_**.**_

_**end Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_What the hell?. . . One minute Jo and Mac were fighting, and the next they were. . . Jesus. They couldn't stop staring at each other? Don tore his eyes from them and tried to focus back on the Job. "Nolan. Help me get this dolt to the car."_

_Mac dragged his hands through his hair and turned back to Jo. "I'll stay and help you."_

_Her eyes flashed back at his. "I can do this on my own Mac. Just give my the car keys and . . ."_

"_No." he interrupted. "We came here together, we'll drive back together." He gazed across at the arena. "Besides, there maybe some more Jerk faces like Petrov around here." he growled._

_She rolled her eye's. "Mac. I'll be fine."_

_He ignored her and turned back to Don. "I'll meet you back at the station in an hour!"_

"_Okay!" Don called. He finished loading Petrov into the Patrol car and glanced back at them. Jo was looking totally exasperated again. He shook his head and got in the car. He was definitely going round Mac's later with those beers._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 3.**_

.

.

They walked into the arena and Jo scanned the area.

Mac looked back down at the blown up photo in his hand. "So. . . these are boiled peanuts."

She turned around and noticed that he was still confused. She wished he'd stop pulling that face. He looked too damn adorable. "Mac. How do you eat your peanuts?"

He glanced back at her. "Uh . . . Like everybody else, I suppose."

"Well. Down South, we like to eat ours boiled because it makes the shell soft and we can open them with our teeth. Maybe I can extract some D.N.A from the shells."

He shifted his gaze to her mouth, to her soft lips, to Friday night. She'd employed such great skill and elevated that kiss to a level that went way beyond erotic. Way beyond his comprehension.

Quickly, she looked away, her hands tightening at her sides, every muscle in her body clenched so tight, she wondered if she might dislocate a bone any second.

Mac cleared his throat and gazed back at the arena locating the spot where the guy had been sitting. He pointed to the bleachers. "I see peanut fragments."

Suddenly she saw them too. She turned back, avoiding eye contact this time, and grabbed the brown bag from his other hand. "I'm sure you want to go and find more muscle heads and ask them some questions. I'll collect these up."

Mac watched her walk away. Good idea. He needed to maintain some distance and somehow try and focus his mind back on the job. He released a long, pent up breath and walked back to the training area.

.

.

Jo and Mac found more than they bargained for that afternoon. Mac had questioned a few of the fighters and found out that Petrov was selling drugs. Then Jo had found a good few pounds of Cannabis in his locker.

Petrov eventually started talking back at the station and he told Don he'd sold his pass to some guy in the parking lot for 300 bucks. He'd insisted however, that he hadn't got a look at the guys face because he'd been wearing a hooded sweater and It was too dark.

To her relief, Jo had managed to avoid driving back to the department with Mac. He needed to take a few of the guys to the station for further questioning and she had to get these peanut shells back to the Department for further analysis, so she hitched a ride with Lindsay.

They'd been in the car a good few minutes, before Lindsay plucked up enough courage to speak. She shifted gears and turned down the next street. "So how have you been?"

Jo glanced back at her and took several seconds trying to think how she could answer that question. "Uh . . . fine." was all she could manage.

"Good." Lindsay looked back at the road. "We haven't met up for awhile. We should. . . you know, go out sometime. Grab a bite to eat and catch up." She turned into 2nd Avenue and glanced back at Jo. "You wanna go out tonight? We can go to Harry's. Play some pool and . . . chat about stuff?"

_Oh my God._ Lindsay had figured out something wasn't right. Had she heard her and Mac arguing in his office? Jo forced out a steady breath and turned back to her. "That sounds great, but I'm going to have an early night tonight. Maybe sometime next week?"

"Sure." Lindsay drew up at the lights and met Jo's gaze. "If you ever want to talk about anything. Anything at all, you know I'm here right?"

Jo forced her gaze to remain steady on hers. "Sure I do. And the same applies to you. If you need to talk I'm always here. I heard you had a pretty tough case when I was away?"

Lindsay sighed inwardly. Jo was clever. She'd just turned the question back on her. The lights turned green and she pressed back down on the gas. "The Harlem Case. The guy was a piece of work, but we got him in the end."

"I heard you were run off the road?"

Lindsay turned back and saw genuine concern in Jo's expression. She smiled. "I'm fine. It was just a cut on my head. I didn't even have a concussion." She looked back at the road. "Danny was more freaked out about it then I was."

Jo tore her gaze from Lindsay and stared straight ahead. Mac had been so calm and in control when he'd turned up that afternoon, minutes after she'd shot John Curtis. But the moment he'd got her to her apartment, he'd suddenly became totally freaked out.

The memory flashed back in her mind.

.

.

.

"_Mac. I'm okay."_

_He quickly lowered her onto the couch. "Are you sure?"_

"_Yes."_

_He was checking her injuries again and she could see the intense concern flicker in his eyes. _

"_We need to keep the swelling down."_

_He hadn't walked in his usual calm manner. Instead he'd bolted across her lounge into her kitchen, and now he was moving around frantically trying to find some frozen peas in her freezer._

_She felt suddenly light headed and slumped back on the couch._

"_Jo?" _

_She heard his anxious voice as he rushed back to her._

"_I'm fine. I'm just tired." _

"_You've got delayed concussion. I knew I should have made you go to the hospital."_

_She looked back at him. "Mac. I'm fine. . ." She'd stopped mid-sentence when she saw the fear and panic in his expression . . ."_

_._

_._

_._

"Jo? Are you okay?"

Jo blinked and looked back at Lindsay. "Yea. I'm . . ." Suddenly she realised that they were parked right outside the CSI Department.

"I thought I would drop you here, before I park the car."

Quickly, Jo grabbed her kit. "Thanks. I'll see you inside."

Lindsay watched Jo as she dashed out of the car and across the road into the building. She pushed out a long breath and leaned back in her seat. "Well that could have gone better." she sighed.

.

.

It took about an hour for Jo to extract the D.N.A from the peanut shells and run a C.O.D.I.S. Search.

Danny walked into the lab. "Have you got anything?"

Jo smiled down at the monitor. "Perfect timing |Danny."

He moved up to the computer. "Aaron Collins. Address, 446 Foster Road. Nice."

She started to reach in her pocket for her phone, but stopped herself at the last second. "Why don't you call Mac and fill him in. I just have to clean up this area."

Danny glanced back at Jo as she crossed the lab. "Lindsay, Adam and I, heard you and Mac arguing in his office at lunchtime. Is everything okay?"

She came to an abrupt stop and nearly dropped the bin. Damn it. They _had_ heard them. Her mind raced. Had they heard what she and Mac were actually arguing about? "Uh. . . yea everything is. . ."

"Everythings fine."

Her eyes flashed to the door.

Mac walked in, his hands jammed in his pocket staring sternly at Danny. He shifted his gaze back at her. "We just had a little . . . discussion about whether to transfer a case to the robbery division or not. It's all sorted now, Isn't it Jo?"

She plastered on a smile and glanced quickly back at Danny. "Yes. Absolutely fine."

_My God._ "Okay that's . . . good." Danny answered.

Jo changed the subject quickly. "We were just about to call you. I've got a match on the D.N.A."

Mac walked up to Danny and looked down at the monitor.

Jo moved over to the work surface and dropped the tissues in the bin. "It's Aaron Collins. We have an address. Foster Road. There's nothing more we can do here tonight, So Danny and I, can go and pick him up with Don before we call it a day?"

He looked across at her for several seconds. "Fine." He walked up to her and took the bin from her hands. "Be careful." he murmured.

Danny raised his eyebrows at Mac.

Ever since this trouble with John Curtis Mac had become a little too protective over her. She didn't like it one bit. She sighed inwardly. "I will Mac." She answered a little too tersely. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and stepped around him. "Come on Danny. Let's go."

Mac watched them both disappear out the lab and down the corridor. He cursed inwardly and tried to take some steady breaths. When he heard the elevator doors slide shut, he swore again. This time loudly and threw the bin in the corner.

Sheldon slammed to a stop when he heard Mac. He'd spent most of the day down the morgue with Sid, but he'd heard rumours going around, that Mac was going to fire Jo. That certainly wasn't true, but something had to be going on. He turned and moved quickly back down the corridor to find Adam.

.

.

Jo and Danny pulled up at the side walk and exited their vehicles.

Don got out his car and walked across the road toward them. He looked up at the building. "Is this the place."

"Yep." Jo answered. "Third floor. Let's go and find him."

They headed inside and up the stairs to his apartment.

Don rapped on his door. There was no answer. "Aaron Collins? This is the police! Open up!" He heard noise from inside and turned around, signalling to Danny and Jo, then he took a few steps back with Danny and the two of them surged to the door and rammed it open. They dashed into the apartment and saw a guy running toward the window. They bolted after him and wrestled him to the ground.

Jo saw movement down the hallway and headed across the room at a jog, her gun trained straight ahead.

Danny turned the guy on his back and cursed under his breath.

"Where's Aaron Collins?!" Don shouted.

Matt Rice, one of the Officers had just come away from a domestic disturbance on the fourth floor and heard the commotion. He recognised Don's voice and quickened his pace down the stairs to Collins Apartment.

Jo rounded the corner and aimed her weapon at him. "Police! Don't move!"

Collins dived through one of the doors, before Jo could take a shot. _Damn it! She started to sprint down the hallway after him._ "Don! Danny! Collins is heading for the roof!" She shouted.

Danny muttered a curse. "Why do they always run?"

"Must be brain damage." Don answered.

Matt came charging into the department with his weapon gripped in his hand. "Everything all right here?"

Don spun around. "Not really, but you turned up just in time. If this idiot moves, shoot him." He and Danny got quickly to their feet and sprinted after Jo.

Aaron charged up the stairs and burst through the door onto the roof. He swore under his breath, as his eyes darting around. _How the hell do I get off here?_

Jo climbed the last of the stairs and carefully swung the door open. She glanced across the roof. _Where is he? I was right behind him._ She couldn't hear a sound and she could hardly see a thing now. It was too dark up here. Slowly she moved across the rough concrete, her gun grasped with both hands.

"Collins. There's no way down. Come out now with your hands up!"

She waited, but there was still silence. She crept to the edge of the roof and looked down. My God. It was a long way down. There was no way he could have jumped without killing himself in the process.

Suddenly she heard sound behind her. She spun around and In the surreal and murky glow of a security light, she saw an arm swing at her. She had no time to act. He knocked her backwards and she flew over the side of the building. For a split second she was falling, then somehow, she managed to reach out and grab at a metal pipe, sticking out the side of the building.

Don and Danny crashed through the door, their weapons aimed straight ahead and ran onto the roof. Danny saw a dark figure race around the corner. "I've got him!" He raced off after Collins. Don was right behind him when he heard a faint terrifying cry and he felt his heart drop to the ground when he recognised her voice. "Jo!"

She tried to grip at the metal pipe with her other hand but there was no room. "Don!" she screamed.

On rubbery legs, he sprinted across the roof, trying to force away the panic. He slid to his knees, his eyes darting over the edge. Then he saw her a few feet down, hanging there, her hand gripping a small metal pipe. _Oh my God!_ "Jo! Hang on!" He tried to grab her wrist, but the metal pipe was just out of his reach. "Grab my hand!" he shouted.

She looked up at Don and tried to reach for it. "I cant!" She looked down. _Oh my God. I'm going to_ _die._ Slowly, her other hand started to slip off the pipe.

Fear slammed through him. "Jo! Look at me!"

She tore her eyes from the ground below, and met his terrified gaze.

"Don't you dare check out on me! Come on! Grab my hand Now!"

She took a deep breath and swung her arm up toward him and he grabbed her, just as her other hand slipped off the metal pipe.

She bit back a scream, too terrified to move as she started to swing haphazardly in the air.

The wind buffeted Don's face, but he shut it out. Shut everything out as he tried to pull her toward him. "Jo! I need you to grab my other hand!"

She blinked, heard his persistent, frantic shouts breaking through the fog once again.

"If you die on me Jo, Mac's gonna hunt me down and kill me! Now grab my damn hand!" he shouted frantically.

"Mac." She whispered.

"Jo. . ."

Danny quickened his pace back around the corner dragging Collins with him. He slammed to a stop, the shock bolting through him when he saw Don on the ground hanging off the side of the building, frantically shouting Jo's name.

Suddenly Don saw her reach for him. He quickly gripped her other hand and damn near wept in relief. He lifted her the rest of the way toward him, then grabbed her waist with a vise like grip and pulled her to safety. He dragged her away from the edge, held her against him and looked back down. He released a long, shuddering breath. "God Jo. Don't ever do that to me again."

Jo continued to grip the back of his jacket, knowing that if she let go now, she was likely to sink to the ground like a wet sponge.

.

.

Forty five minutes later, Don drew up outside Jo's apartment. He glanced back at her. "Well you've had a pretty crazy first day back. Are you sure you're okay?"

"It was just a scare Don. I'm fine." She glanced at him for a long moment. "Thanks for saving my life by the way. I owe you one."

He pushed out a breath and dragged his fingers through his hair. "You scared me half to death, but no problem."

Her smile faded. "About what happened on the roof. How about we . . ." Good God. What was she thinking. She couldn't ask him to cover for her. Mac was going to find out soon enough anyway.

"How about we keep this quiet from Mac?" he shook his head and gazed back at the road. "Believe me, I would love to, but you know we cant." he murmured.

She turned and stared out the side window. "I know."

He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to him Jo."

Her eyes flashed back at him. "What?"

Don met her gaze. "It's clear to me, the two of you have deep feelings for each other, so I say go for it."

Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to swallow. Tried to compose herself. Finally she found her voice. "I . . . I don't know what your talking about. Mac and I are just . . . we're just friends and . . ." She saw Don quickly glance back out the front windscreen and his eyes suddenly widened.

She followed his gaze and her heart Immediately started racing when she saw Mac's car come speeding down the street and skidding to a stop right in front of them.

Don muttered a curse as he watched him jump out of his car. "It seems Mac's already found out about your scrape with a Aaron Collins."

.

.

Mac's heart had been slamming in his chest like mortar rounds, since he'd found out what happened on the roof. Matt had tried to assure him that Jo was fine, but as he floored it to her apartment, the mix of adrenaline and fear had continued to pummel his system.

It seemed to take an eternity, but finally he made it to her place and when he saw her in the car with Don, a relief so huge, damn near buckled his heart he thought he might just die. "Jesus." He dragged a trembling hand over his face and forced out a shaky breath. _It's okay. . .She's okay. . ._ he repeated the words over and over, in an attempt to try and calm himself down, but the intense emotions continued to claw through his heart.

.

.

Jo saw the fear and anger flash in Mac's eyes as he bolted out of his car. "Yea. . . I think he knows." She sighed.

Don raised his eyebrows as Mac hurried across the side walk toward them. "And I think he's gonna kill me, so I just wanna say it's been nice knowing you Jo and I'll meet you on the other side."

Mac dashed around to the passenger side, wrenched open her door and quickly scanned her body for injuries. "Are you okay?"

She hid her bandaged hand under the sleeve of her jacket and glanced up at him. "I'm absolutely fine. . ." She stopped mid sentence when she saw him glare across at Don.

"Where the hell were you and Danny?!" Mac shouted furiously.

God. He was revved up for the mother of all battles. Don sighed inwardly and rubbed at his forehead. "Look. We were a little tied up holding down this other guy and . . ."

"And you just let her chase Collins up to the roof, alone, without back up?!"

_Oh for God sake._ "Hey. I'm right here you know, and for your information they were right behind me." She answered exasperatedly.

Mac raised his eyebrows at her. "Right behind you? Don't give me that Jo." He glared back at Don. "How long was she on that roof without you huh?"

Jo glared angrily at him. "Don't you dare blame Don for this Mac! He saved my life back there! If it wasn't for him . . ." _God. If It wasn't for him I would be dead right now!_ The horrifying thought clawed through her heart once again. She pushed it away, took a deep, unsteady breath and slowly met Don's gaze. Then she unbuckled her seat belt, leaned toward him and hugged him. "Thanks." she whispered.

Don smiled inwardly. "If you need anything, just call okay."

She nodded, then turned back to Mac forcing herself to settle down and drop her tone a notch. "Do you mind moving out my way?"

Mac muttered under his breath and stepped back, ordering himself to ignore the way she smelled and the heat of her skin as she jumped out of the car and brushed passed him. He watched her walk quickly across the road toward her apartment, then slowly he glanced back at Don. "I . . . need to go check she's okay. . ." He pressed his lips together, paused for several seconds. "Thanks . . . for what you did up there."

Don nodded. "She's okay Mac."

"Yea." He released a heavy sigh, then turned and started back across the road, breaking into a jog to catch up with her.

Don pushed out a long breath and started his car. He decided it would be best to take the beers round Mac's another night instead. They all needed some cooling off time right now.

.

.

Jo had a good pout going when she shoved through her front door, Mac breathing down her neck. "Look. One of the paramedics checked me over and I'm fine." She marched through the main room to her kitchen and grabbed the kettle, doing everything in her power to ignore him. Like that was remotely possible with him looming like a gargoyle.

She reached for the tap, then stopped and winced as the pain bit her hand.

Mac was there in a split second. Gently he took her hand from the tap and pulled up the sleeve of her Jacket. "My God. You're hurt."

His eyes were dark with concern. "Mac. It's just a small cut. I only needed a few stitches. I'm okay."

He held her gaze. _Oh God No._ He knew he was screwed when he saw the mist of tears gather in her eyes.

She tore her eyes from his and blinked back the tears. "I'm okay . . . It was . . . just a little scary." Suddenly, his strong arms circled around her and a split second later he was holding her firmly against him. She should have pulled away, but she felt so safe when he held her close.

He swallowed hard, his heartbeat suddenly rocketing and his body hardening in all the wrong places. Damn it. He groaned, swore inwardly and pulled away. "I'm going to make you some tea. Go sit on the couch and relax."

She didn't move.

He quickly filled up the kettle, switched it on and turned back to her. "Jo. Just go and sit down. You're exhausted."

A moment of silence stretched between them.

Suddenly she took a step toward him and panic had him backing away. "Okay fine. If you want to make the tea. . ."

"You said we needed to talk, so let's talk." She interrupted.

He muttered under his breath and walked back out the kitchen. "We're not talking about this tonight. You need to get some sleep."

She stared across at him, suddenly craving the danger, the uncertainty. Adrenaline was still ripping through her blood from what happened earlier. This was probably what was causing the sudden lapse of sanity, but she couldn't resist finding out how far she could take him, before he toppled over the edge. "You want to know if that kiss meant nothing?. . . I think we should find out."

Her eyes told him that she knew she was flirting with fire, but was feeling reckless enough to strike the match anyway. His heart started to race when she moved across the room toward him, not taking her eyes off his face. "Look. I'm too tired to work up the energy for that kind of action. And for the record, I'm really not all that interested."

It wasn't exactly surprise he saw on her face. It wasn't even shock. Damn it_._ She'd been expecting him to try to brush her off and she wasn't buying a single line of it. Her next words confirmed it.

"You're a lousy liar Mac."

Suddenly she was close. So close he could feel the heat radiating off her body. Smell the erotic scent of her. He swallowed and fought to appear unaffected by her nearness, as her warm breath whispered against his ear.

"So I don't do anything for you, Is that what you're saying?" She ran her finger in a slow sensual glide along the side of his clenched jaw, then skimmed it lingeringly down his throat.

He swallowed back a groan.

She flattened her palm against his chest and eased it slowly downward. "What's the matter Mac. Am I getting a little too close to the truth?"

His hand shot up and manacled her wrist just as she reached his belt.

Jo didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed. She was stunned by the speed of his action and the feel of his hand capturing her wrist made her tremble, like she had Friday evening, with anticipation, fear and longing. She wasn't aware that she'd wet her lips until she saw his gaze track her tongue there. His blue eyes staring down at her with heat and fury and pure lust. Oh God. She'd just crossed a dangerous line. Maybe she'd better stop this game before she got well and truly burned. But before she had a chance to step away, he whirled her around and pushed her up against the door.

A long moment passed when the only sounds in the room were the blood pounding in their ears and their own harsh breathing.

God. She was so beautiful. Everything he'd dreamed. Everything he wanted. Everything essentially missing in his life. The feelings that welled up inside him were too much to bear and he surrendered. Gave up the fight.

His hands were hard, his mouth on hers rough and greedy as he kissed her and heat flowed through her like hot lava. Then he was lifting her, taking her along with him and before she could register what was happening, he'd tumbled her onto the couch beneath him.

Her arms came around him, as his body slammed down on hers, his fingers diving into her hair, the kiss growing more intense, then nearly brutal. His mouth hot, almost vicious and the shock of it sent flares of reaction straight to her center. Already his fast, impatient hands were tugging off her shirt, her slacks, and in response she yanked at his clothes to get through the material to his flesh. The moment they were naked, wild, reckless energy burst inside her and she couldn't move quickly enough, her hands weren't fast enough to satisfy the craving.

It was building so fast, the need like teeth grinding inside him. His hands raced over her and her body arched fluidly back so that his lips could taste where and how they liked. Her climax ripped through him and he drove himself inside her.

His rhythm was slow now with long deep strokes that stirred her soul and her breath quickened at the fluid slide of his body in hers. Then his fingers linked with hers, his lips curved on hers and she felt his body tighten an instant before he buried his face in her hair.

They lay quiet for a long time, their bodies meshed but still. Finally Mac rose slightly and gazed down at her. "I'm going to stay with you tonight." he whispered softly.

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_**OKAY. . . SO NOW THINGS HAVE BECOME A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED. LOL! HOW WILL MAC AND JO REACT, NOW THAT THIS HAS GONE FROM A KISS TO A WHOLE LOT MORE! FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**HEY :)**_

_**SO HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER. I FELT RATHER DEPRESSED AFTER WRITING THIS ONE.**_

_**You guys are so lovely to review my chapters like you do. It means so much :) **_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_. . . The moment they were naked, wild reckless energy burst inside them and Jo couldn't move quickly enough, her hands weren't fast enough to satisfy the craving._

_It was building so fast, the need like teeth grinding inside him. His hands raced over her and her body arched fluidly back so that his lips could taste where and how they liked. Then her climax suddenly ripped through him and he drove himself inside her._

_His rhythm was slow now, with long, deep strokes that stirred her soul and her breath quickened at the fluid slide of his body in hers. Then his fingers linked with hers, his lips curved on hers and she felt his body tighten an instant before he buried his face in her hair._

_They lay quiet for a long time, their bodies meshed,but still. _

_Finally Mac rose and gazed down at her. "I'm going to stay with you tonight." He whispered softly._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 4.**_

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.

Mac woke up from a dead sleep. His eyes flew open and he stared at the ceiling for several seconds. Suddenly he became aware of her soft body sleeping beside him and he allowed himself a moment to relish the feel of her nestled against him. To remember how incredible it was last night. To remember the way he'd shattered in her arms.

As much as he wanted to bury himself back inside her, he stayed where he was and gazed down at this soft, strong woman that made him feel so whole, so alive. _Christ. Look at her. _He dragged a hand through his hair. Even sound asleep and wrecked on sex, she looked so damn beautiful, like a princess.

It was time for a reality check. Only it felt more like a gut check, because this hadn't been all about sex. Yeah, it had been great sex. Okay, unbelievable sex. But it had also been more. At least for him it had. It had been about . . . Love. _Damn it Mac! _

He eased carefully off the couch so he wouldn't wake her. Then he grabbed his clothes and headedfor the bathroom to get dressed.

He was soaking up his hit of caffeine and squaring away the arguments in his head when he heard her walk in ten minutes later.

.

.

Right about now Jo's emotions were racing like a high flying roller-coaster. Deep down she'd known that sex with Mac Taylor would not be the pristine, polite sex of her limited experience. Sex with Mac Taylor would be of the messy, hot and sweaty variety. Sex with him would be incredibly intense and boy was she right. She'd been absolutely defenceless last night. This woman who tackled corruption on the streets for a living, had been 100 percent defenceless against him. Well what had happened between them, had nothing to do with power and positioning and who had the upper hand.

She closed her eyes. . . like she'd been closing her eyes on the truth for so long. . .From the moment she'd first set eyes on him. From the moment she'd looked down from that balcony and saw him gaze up at her. She would never forget that moment for the rest of her life. She swallowed hard and gazed back at him. "Hey." She squinted against the sun beaming in through the window. "Great morning."

He turned to face her. God. She had that thin robe wrapped so tightly around her and he could see by the way it was plastered against her body that she wasn't wearing anything else. He released a slow, unsteady breath, grabbed the mug of coffee and placed it on the counter next to her. "Barely that. It's almost eleven. How's your hand?"

Her eyes widened. "It's eleven o'clock?"

"Yea I guess we were . . . pretty tired." _and totally spent on the best sex he'd ever had._ "How's your hand?"

She looked across at him for a long moment, then sighed inwardly. "It's fine. Mac. . ."

It killed him, but he jumped in quickly anyway. "Look, Jo. About last night."

Her hand paused mid-air. She looked at him, hard. "Wait. You're not really going to give me an _about_ _last night_ speech, are you?"

Damn it. "Fine. I'll cut to the chase. The sex was great. Are you on the pill?"

She looked stunned, but nodded.

"Then we're good. . ." He stopped himself at the last second, cursed inwardly, turned and tossed his coffee down the sink.

"Well I'm just bowled over by your morning-after love talk Romeo."

Mac whirled back around to her. "Look you came to me remember? I gave you what you wanted. Now we need to . . . reassess the situation."

She pushed back the hurt and searched his eyes. "Reassess the situation?"

He steeled himself against her wounded look. "Distance. . . We both need . . . some space." He looked back down at her hand. "You had a lousy day yesterday. Take today off."

Reeling with shock and pain, Jo turned and watched him bolt passed her and disappear out of the kitchen, a split second later she heard her front door slam shut behind her. She swallowed into an aching throat and blinked back the tears. "That's fine Mac." She turned back and stared out of the window. ". . . I cant do this any more." She whispered.

.

.

_**Seven hours later, **_Mac was sitting at Don's desk down at the station with the report back in his hand. He had no idea why he was putting himself through this. He'd lost count of how many times he'd read the damn thing. My God. That apartment building was fifteen storeys high. If Don hadn't got to Jo in time she would be dead right now. He'd tried not to think about it. Tried to busy himself with other things, but then he'd gone and pick it up, looked through it again, and images of her lying dead in a pool of blood resurfaced in his mind, eating away at him like a bad cancer.

Don had been questioning Aaron Collins when Mac had charged into the interrogation room hours earlier. He'd come close to punching Aaron's lights out, but Don and another Officer had pulled him out of there just in time. It had taken Mac a good hour to calm down after that. Aaron had confessed that he'd taken the V.I.P Pass from Petrov and was watching Ryan's fight from the bleachers the other night. That it was him who'd been stalking Ryan all these years and sent him all those death threats, but Aaron denied adamantly that he'd killed him. Mac and Don checked with the half way house. Aaron had made curfew. He'd gone back there straight after the fight. There was no way he could have killed Ryan Richards.

Mac leaned back in the chair and checked his watch. It was already 16:00 and he'd eaten nothing all day. His mind drifted back to Jo. Back to all those times they'd gone out at lunchtime and eaten together. God he'd missed that. Missed her company. Missed her smile. . . His heart melted as other images crashed into his mind. _Her rosy lips parted, inviting, so ripe he had to taste her. Her fingers diving into his hair, as she dragged his mouth closer for a kiss. Her tongue flickering out to meet his. Her body quivering beneath his touch . . . _

"Earth calling Mac. Come in Mac."

He sat bolt upright in his seat and saw Don standing there, leaning back against the filing cabinet with that amused look on his face.

Mac muttered under his breath, gazed back at the computer and pretended to look busy. "Yes Don?" It was then that he realised the report on Aaron Collins arrest was still wide open in front of him.

Don's smile faded. "How many times are you going to look over that report?"

Mac cursed inwardly, slammed it shut and chucked it back in Don's tray. "I've finished looking at it." He murmured. He got Marty Bosch's profile up on the screen. "You're right. This kid has a clean record. No minors, nothing."

Marty Bosch had come staggering into the police station a couple of hours ago covered in Gasoline and blood. He'd told Don, he thought he'd killed someone the night before last. Had he killed Ryan Richards? That's what Don and Mac had been trying to find out all afternoon.

Mac glanced back at Don. "Does he remember anything yet?"

Don sighed. "Nope. All he remembers is getting wasted down at Gerry's on Sixth. He vaguely recalls walking out of the bar. The next thing he remembers is waking up in his dorm covered in blood."

"That's just great." Mac muttered. He pushed out a frustrated breath and rose out of the chair. "I'm going to get back to the Department and see if Lindsay's finished processing the blood and gasoline from Marty's shirt." He started to walk passed him.

"How's Jo by the way?"

Don's question hit him like a gut punch. He froze momentarily, then somehow managed to cast a benign glance back at him. "She's fine. But she's still a little rattled after what happened yesterday, so I've given her the day off. I'll see you later."

Don let out a heavy sigh, as he watched Mac cross the precinct and disappear through the main doors.

.

.

Lindsay walked to Mac's office. It was still empty so she pulled out her phone.

"Have you found anything on Marty's clothing yet?"

She turned around and saw him exiting the elevator. "Yea. I was just about to call you." She smiled.

He didn't smile back.

She cleared her throat. "Uh. . . Marty's shirt _was _covered in human blood, but it wasn't Ryan Richards. And this isn't the same gasoline. Marty didn't burn up our vic."

Mac muttered under his breath and pulled out his I pad. "Well. We're at a dead end on the Richards case right now. . ." He brought up Marty's profile and showed her his address. ". . . I want you and Danny to go ask around the neighborhood. Maybe someone saw Marty that night. Maybe someone even knows what he got up to."

Lindsay took a note of the address. "Sure." She handed the I Pad back to him. "Uh Mac? Is Jo okay?"

_Oh for God sake._ He rubbed at his forehead. "Jo's fine."

"It's just that. . . She looked a little upset when I saw her an hour ago." Lindsay said hesitantly.

Mac's eyes flashed back at Lindsay. "She did?"

"Yea. I'm just a little worried about her. I called after her but she just rushed out of the Department."

He inhaled sharply as the guilt swept through him and that raw, dull ache gripped his heart once again. It had taken him years of conditioning to successfully shut the emotional systems down, and yea, he thought he'd finally done it. Only it seemed he wasn't quite dead of feeling love after all. Jo Danville wasn't going to allow it. Couldn't she see he wasn't good enough for her?

Suddenly he frowned and looked back at Lindsay. "Wait. She was here?"

"Yes. She came rushing through the elevator, dropped something on your desk and bolted out of here without saying a word."

His breath stalled in his chest. _God No!_ He pushed passed Lindsay, strode quickly into his office and rounded his desk. He snatched up the envelope, tore it open and pulled out the letter. He scanned the page and had to steel himself to keep from going numb with shock and disbelief.

Lindsay followed him into his office and came to an abrupt stop when she saw the sharp sorrow and regret in his eyes. _Oh my God!_ "Mac?"

Slowly he met her concerned gaze. He drew a steady breath, let it out and shoved the letter under a stack of files. "I. . .have to go out for a bit. Call me if you find anything on Marty Bosch." He ushered her out of his office and shut the door behind him. "I'll be back soon."

Lindsay whirled around and watched Mac race across the corridor and disappear back in the Elevator.

Danny frowned and walked quickly up the corridor toward Lindsay. "What's going on with Mac?"

Her eye's flashed to his and Immediately he saw the anxiety in her expression. "Linds what's wrong?"

"I don't know but we've got to find out."

Danny's eyes widened when Lindsay slapped her I Pad into his hand and ran into Mac's office. He looked around to check no one had noticed and followed her in. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Danny just keep watch, in case Mac comes back."

Danny looked back at the corridor. "You're clear."

She rummaged through the files and finally found the sheet of paper. She pulled it out and looked down at it. Her eyes widened.

Danny moved quickly toward her and snatched it out of her hand.

.

.

Adam and Sheldon walked around the corner and Immediately caught sight of Danny and Lindsay in Mac's office.

"What are they doing in there?" Sheldon asked perplexed.

"I don't know, but Lindsay looks upset. Come on. Let's go and find out."

.

.

Danny scanned the page. "Ah Crap! This can't be happening."

Adam and Sheldon came rushing through the door.

"What can't be happening?" Adam asked anxiously.

Danny eyes flashed up at them. He sighed heavily and looked back down at the letter.

Lindsay swallowed back a lump in her throat. "Jo's just resigned."

.

.

Mac looked up the road and saw that fifth Avenue was clogged with traffic. "Dammit!" He cranked the steering wheel hard to the right and skidded down the side street on two tyres. Then he buried the gas pedal, and floored it. When he got onto the next road he had to slam down hard on the brakes and he barely avoided rear-ended the BMW in front of him. He looked ahead and saw a dozen other cars clogging the lanes as a freight train creaked slowly across the intersection. A long bloody train. He muttered a curse and thought of Jo. Wasn't this what he'd wanted? Distance? God. He'd been so damn selfish. So damn stupid.

The train eventually passed by and he slammed down on the gas pedal speeding off once again, as he hopped from one lane to another, weaving his way through the line of traffic.

Finally he made it the last two blocks and skidded to a stop outside her apartment building.

He dashed out the car, flat-out ran across the asphalt and burst through the main doors.

He sprinted across the foyer to the elevators, skidded to a stop and impatiently stabbed at the button, but the damn elevator was coming down too damn slow. He cursed loudly and sprinted for the stairs. He took the steps two at a time, his thighs were burning and his lungs felt like they were on fire by the time he made the tenth floor. He forced himself to slow down when he turned the corner and saw her door at the end of the hallway. His labored breath and the pumping like pistons of his pulse racing through his ears were the only sounds he could hear. He stopped and leaned back against the wall. _Okay Mac. You need to calm down._

He took a moment to get his breath back, then walked to her door, knocked and waited. There was silence. He knocked again. "Jo. It's me. Look I'm sorry. . . Please. . . just open the door." He waited another moment. "Jo. Please just let me in." He sighed and pulled out his keys. He found hers, the key she had given him for emergencies. "Jo. I'm coming in." God. She going to be even more pissed at him now. He pushed the key in the lock and opened her door.

When he walked into her apartment, his throat constricted to the size of a very thin straw. _NO! _He dashed through the main room, flung open the doors and checked every room. "Jo!" He yelled her name again, praying that she would suddenly appear in front of him . . . even though that sick feeling clawed in his stomach and he already knew.

Finally he slowed to a stop, turned and began to walk shakily back to the main room. Everything was gone. The place was empty. He leaned against the wall and tried to steady himself as he looked around. Every piece of furniture. . . He gazed across the front room and his heart broke. She'd left the couch behind.

.

.

A couple of hours later Lindsay and Danny still didn't have any new leads. They'd scouted Marty's neighborhood, knocked on doors, asked questions, but nobody had seen Marty that night.

Lindsay checked her watch. "It's past seven. I think we should call it a day."

"I'm trying to call Mac, but his phone's going directly to voice mail."

Lindsay turned around to Danny. "The only time Mac hasn't answered his phone, is when he's been in some kind of trouble." She replied anxiously.

"Lindsay. He legged it out of the department when he saw Jo's resignation letter. I'm betting you he's over at her place right now, begging her to come back."

"Well. I hope he succeeds." She let out a heavy breath. "I really love Jo. I don't want her to leave."

Danny took her in his arms. "Hey. I'm sure everything's going to turn out fine, but I think we should let Don know what's happened."

Lindsay brought her arms around him. "Yea, we should." she murmured.

.

.

Mac slouched in a chair on the balcony and looking out at the city, his hand wrapped around the neck of a half-full bottle of scotch.

The moon hung like a damn china egg as it rose from the east. He lifted his bottle in salute. _Bad_ _egg, rotten egg, the yokes on you._ God, he was funny. And the scotch tasted great. God damn great. Even if it wasn't as great as he remembered. Even if it didn't numb nearly as fast as he needed it to. He gazed back at it. _I'm only half way through._ _Just need to finish this up then I'll be well and truly piss faced drunk. Fan-bloody-tastic. _He lifted the bottle and swallowed deep, trying to get her out of his mind.

He swiped away a stray tear with the back of his hand. Gone. The one woman who had managed to peel away his defences and mattered more than anything else in this world, was gone, and he'd gone and driven her away.

But away from him she was safe.

At least she was safe.

_Please God. Let her always be safe._

And please let him get so drunk, he could forget that hurt look on her face. The one that was bringing these bloody wimpy-ass tears to his eyes and proving what a poor excuse for a man he really was.

He was dragged from his thoughts of self pity, by the sound of a persistent rapping on his door.

"Mac! I know you're in there! Now open the damn door or I'll ram my way in here!"

_Oh for God sake._ Mac muttered a curse and turned his head back. "Go away Don! I'm in no mood for company!" He sighed heavily looked back at the crazy egg moon and chugged down some more Scotch.

Don could hear by the slight slur in his voice, that he was doing a good job of getting himself well and truly drunk right now. _Jesus Christ Mac!_ He looked down at the beers in his hand and chucked them on the floor in the hall. "I guess we wont be needing these." He sighed heavily, reared back and slammed himself against the door. _Damn it! _

It took several more attempts, but finally Don managed to break the lock and burst through into Mac's apartment. He grunted in pain, straightened slowly, and found himself staring across the room at a very pissed off Mac. Unperturbed and still totally pissed off himself, he moved quickly toward him. "Where the hell is Jo?!"

Mac glared back at him. "Get the hell out of my apartment!" He turned around and walked unsteadily back to the balcony.

Don pushed out a breath, and took a moment to try and calm down. Then he grabbed a chair and went after him.

Mac cursed inwardly when he heard Don walk up behind him. "I said, Go away!"

Don dragged the chair onto the balcony and sank down into it. "Yea I know. Ain't going to happen though." He reached across and grabbed Mac's bottle of Scotch. "I need some of that."

Mac went to grab it back, but he was too slow. His reflexes too sluggish. God. He'd had way too much of that Scotch. He sighed heavily. "Fine. Finish it up. Then disappear."

Don suddenly caught sight of a large box next to Mac's chair. He looked closer and frowned. "Mac. What are you doing looking at photo's of Clare?"

Mac cast him a warning look, then grabbed the lid and slammed it down on the box. "That's none of your damn business."

Don glanced back at him for several seconds. He knew Mac never liked to talk about Clare, but Don had never seen so much guilt and regret in Mac's expression as he did right now. He leaned back in the chair, gazed at the bottle. _Ah what the hell._ He lifted it to his mouth and swallowed some down. "You closed yourself off after Clare's death. I already know that. Then Jo came along and tore down your walls. You two have suddenly become more than friends?"

Mac drew an unsteady breath, let it out. He leaned forward in his seat and glared across at Don. "You're barking up the wrong tree. There is nothing going on between Jo and me."

Don shook his head and gazed up at the sky. "Mac. Danny, Lindsay, Adam and Sheldon, along with half the precinct, have already figured out that you and Jo _**have**_ become a little more than friends Mac." He turned back to him. "And I know that you've suddenly realised that you've fallen in love with her."

Mac launched out of his seat. "That is not true!"

Don got to his feet and stared back at him. "Yes it is! But for some reason you're so damn scared of being in love again, that you've become a heartless sonofabitch and driven her away! You're not the only one who cares about her you know! You've hurt me best friend Mac!"

Slowly, he turned back around and leaned wearily on the railings.

Don took a moment, forced himself to calm down. He looked back at the box, then walked up beside him. "What are you afraid of Mac? You afraid of losing Jo, like you lost Clare?"

Mac continued to gaze across at the city. "You don't know when to quit do you?"

"Occupational Hazard. It's what makes me a good Cop." Damn it. Mac wasn't going to talk about this. Don blew out another long breath and glanced back at the night sky. "Okay fine. Look I know Jo resigned from the department and she's cleared out of her place. Do have any idea where she could be?"

"No." Mac answered quietly.

"You're gonna help me find her right?"

In that split second it hit him like a sledgehammer right through the heart. "I never wanted this to happen. . . I don't want to lose her Don."

Don glanced back at him. "We'll find her."

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_**THAT WAS A REALLY DIFFICULT CHAPTER TO WRITE. I HOPE IT WAS OK.**_

_**IN THE NEXT CHAPTER MAC, DON AND THE REST OF THE TEAM TRY AND FIND JO.**_

He looked back up at Don.


	5. Chapter 5

_**HEY :D**_

_**YES. . . IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET THIS CHAPTER UP. I SPENT A WHOLE DAY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO GO WITH THE STORY NEXT. THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.**_

_**PLEASE R&R :D**_

_**.**_

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_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

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_Don looked down at the box of photo's, then walked up beside Mac. "What are you afraid of Mac? You afraid of losing Jo, like you lost Clare?"_

_Mac continued to gaze across the city. "You don't know when to quit do you?"_

"_Occupational Hazard. It makes me a good cop." Don released a long, pent up breath. Mac wasn't going to talk about this. He glanced up at the night sky. "Okay fine. Look I know Jo resigned from the department Mac, and I also know that she's cleared out of her place. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"_

"_No." He answered quietly._

"_You're gonna help me find her right?"_

_In that split second, it hit him like a sledgehammer through the heart. He closed his eyes. "God I never wanted this to happen. . . I don't want to lose her Don."_

_Don met his gaze. "We'll find her."_

_._

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_**CHAPTER 5.**_

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_**Three Months Later.**_

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"Thanks for finding my father Jo."

Jo smiled back at Diane. "No problem. How have the last couple of days been?"

"Better. We're talking now." She sighed heavily and stared out at the busy street. "He left because he blamed himself for my mothers death. I knew that was the reason. He's lived for twenty years with this crazy idea in his head that I hated him." She glanced back at Jo. "He's got a lot to work through, but thanks to you, he has his daughter to help him now."

"Well I'm glad I could help."

Diane stepped forward, hugged her and drew away. "I have to go."

"Anytime you need to talk, my doors always open."

Diane smiled. "Thanks again."

Jo watched Diane get in her car and drive off down the road. She turned around and looked up at the building.

It had taken a good couple of months to get the roof fixed and the place redecorated, but finally Jo moved in and got the business up and running. She'd solved a number of cases already. Her first client, a Kai Roberts had walked into her agency several weeks back and asked her to find out if his brothers death really was a suicide. Devin Roberts body had been found washed up on the bank of a river, five miles from Baltimore in April 2010, and according to Kai, the Police Department had done nothing to find the circumstances surrounding his brothers death. Jo agreed to take on the case and discovered that Devin's death _**was**_ in fact a suicide. However, what she'd also found out was that he'd been into fraud. Devin's media organisation had hit the financial rocks and so he'd used the pension funds of his employees to provide cash for his investments, then disguised the shortfall. When Jo told Kai the bad news. He'd left her agency that day, a broken man.

The next client to walk through her door was Diane Hall, and in the last couple of weeks Jo had been searching for her missing father. Unfortunately Jo stumbled upon an illegal gambling ring and a string of robberies, totally unrelated to the case and had to go to the Baltimore P.D to hand the information in. Now word was spreading fast, that there was a Jo Danville in town, who'd opened up a Detective Agency on Mason Street and was cracking cases faster than the local Police Department. _Great. _The whole point of starting this private agency in the first place was so she could stay low and not become too well known. This wasn't working out as she'd intended.

Jo muttered under her breath, walked inside the building to her office and dropped her bag on the desk. There were no pressing matters to deal with right now so she went out into the back yard and sat under the old oak tree. She knew she shouldn't be sitting here doing nothing. This was the one place which seemed to encourage thought. The place where she always ended up thinking about Mac. She sighed heavily, reached in her pocket and pulled out the photo. She'd grabbed his camera that evening and taken a picture of him holding her Ice cream, then she'd joked around teasing him with it, threatened to show it around the department when she came back to work. She leaned back in her chair and thought about that evening down at the funfair. Her smile faded. "That was a good night." she whispered.

Suddenly she heard the main door open. She pushed the memories back down, got to her feet and went quickly inside. When she walked into her office, she stopped dead in her tracks, blinked twice, not quite believing who was standing in front of her. "Marty Bosch?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Detective Jo Danville? . . . I. . . thought you were in New York?"

She inhaled deeply, steadied herself. "Uh yea, I was, but I moved. I. . . needed a change." She frowned. "What are you doing here in Baltimore?"

"I'm glad I've run into you. I need to talk to you about Ryan Richards."

_What the hells going on? _She'd tried to push every memory of New York to the back of her mind, so she hadn't followed up on the Richards case after she left. She remembered, they'd come up with a theory that Ryan had killed Hunt to fake his death. All Ryan had needed was a body no one would miss, and a homeless guy like Charlie Hunt was the perfect candidate. No body stalks a dead man right? And Ryan would have done anything to protect his wife and his unborn child. Had they still not found Ryan Richards yet?

"What do you know about Ryan Richards?" Jo asked curiously

Marty started to pace. "Well I know he's alive."

She stared across at him. "_**How**_ do you know?"

Marty stopped and glanced back at her. "I couldn't forget about the case. I was angry. Angry that I got caught up in this. Angry that Richards is still out there somewhere, living it up when that sonofabitch should be behind bars!" He muttered under his breath and started pacing again. "I could have ended up in Jail because of him!" He released a long, weary breath and sank down in the chair opposite her desk. "So I started doing a little investigative work myself and I tracked him to a seedy motel just outside Manhattan. . ."

Jo raised her hand to stop him. "Wait. You _**did**_ go to the N.Y.P.D about this didn't you?"

"What? And tell them I hacked into their database?"

Jo raised her eyebrows. "You hacked into their Database?"

Marty cursed and looked away. "Yea I know. It was a stupid thing to do, but I didn't care. I. . . God I just wanted to catch up with him and kick his ass."

Jo pushed out a breath and sat down in the chair opposite him. "Okay, so what happened next?"

"I borrowed my mates motorbike and went down there, but when I got to the motel he was gone. I checked with the owner and he said he saw Ryan Richards meet up with a woman just up the street and jump on a coach with her. I discovered the next day that this coach had been heading for Baltimore." Marty leaned forward in his seat and glanced back at her. "I've been scouring this town for two whole weeks trying to find him, then early this evening I saw him."

Jo kept her gaze steady on his. "You saw him."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Hundred percent."

_Oh God! _Jo rose from her seat. "Where did you see him Marty?"

"Three blocks from here. Down Jordan Street."

"At what time?"

"A couple of hours ago. Around 20:00."

"Okay Marty? We've got to go down the station."

His eyes widened. "I'm not taking this to the Police."

"We have to. And you hacked into the Police Database remember. You need to turn yourself in."

He stared incredulously at her. "No I'm not. And you cant arrest me. Your a P.I now."

"I can make a citizens arrest Marty."

"NO!" He jumped out of his seat and bolted out of her office.

Jo muttered under her breath, grabbed her gun from her drawer and took off after him.

.

.

She'd chased him for several blocks and was gaining on him, but then she'd lost him down one of the alleys off West Franklin Street. Fifteen minutes later she still hadn't found him. "Marty! Come on! You want Ryan Richards to get caught right? The Police will find him! And as for breaking into the database! It'll be fine! If You help them with the Investigation I'm sure they'll over look it!" She lied. She crept around the next corner and peered down another narrow side street. _Damn it._ There was no sign of him. She let out a long, frustrated breath and started to walk back to West Franklin Street. On her way up the next alley she tripped on something right next to a dumpster. She looked down and froze to the stop. _Oh God. No._ Quickly she pulled out her flash light and shone it down at the body. "Marty!" She sank to her knees and checked his pulse. There was nothing. He was lying dead in a pool of blood, a gun shot wound to his chest. She jumped back to her feet and looked around. Whoever had done this, they were gone by now. She stepped back, leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. _My God._ She couldn't believe this had happening. She was going to have to fill the Baltimore Police Department in on this whole case, which meant they were going to be on the phone to the N.Y.P.D. She cursed inwardly. Of all the damn States. Of all the damn Cities in America, and this case had gone and followed her to Baltimore. She hesitated, then angrily pulled out her phone and called the Baltimore P.D.

It only took five minutes before she saw Wyatt Roberts turn down the Alley and drive toward her in his Patrol Car.

He drew to a stop in front of her and got out of his vehicle. "Well, Well, Well. If it's not Jo Danville. Why am I not surprised that it's _**you**_ who've stumbled upon a body down here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Look. I've got to get back, so grab your pad and start writing. The vic lying here is Eighteen year old Marty Bosch and he . . ."

"For God sake Jo. Hang on a minute." He quickly pulled out a pad and started searching his pockets.

She smiled. "Lost your pen again Wyatt?"

He gazed back at her with that unamused look on his face. Then grabbed the spare pen that she was holding out to him. "Thanks." He muttered under his breath and started writing. "So. . .Was _**this**_ guy a client of yours?"

"Uh . . . no. He . . . came to my office about an hour ago. Look. I don't know much about this." she lied. "But you need to . . ." She released a heavy, resigned breath. ". . . get in contact with a Don Flack back at the N.Y.P.D. They were working a case a few months ago. A burnt body was discovered several blocks from a cage fighting ring in Manhattan down a side street off sixth Avenue. They thought the Vic was a Ryan Richards, but it was later suspected that Richards could have faked his death."

Wyatt stopped writing and met her gaze. "Why?" he asked curiously

"I. . . I dont know but Marty came to my office tonight and told me that he'd hacked into the Police database back in New York and found out that Ryan Richards had come here to Baltimore with his wife Lisa Richards. He also said that he saw Ryan along Jordan Street at around 20:00 this evening. I told him, I needed to take him to the station and he made a run for it. I chased him for a couple of blocks and lost him. Then fifteen minutes later I stumbled on his body. Thats all I know. Now I have to get back." She started to walk passed him.

He raised his hand to stop her "Woah there just a minute."

She sighed inwardly and glanced back at him. "What?"

"Do you think Ryan Richards killed this guy?"

Jo glanced back down at Marty. "I don't know." She sighed.

"_**You**_ didn't kill him did you?"

She rolled her eyes and stared sternly at him. "Of course I didn't kill him."

"Well I cant think of any other reason why you're looking so damn nervous. And _**you **_can't wait to get the hell out of here. That's not like you."

Jo scowled at him. "You know nothing about me. . . I am _**not**_ nervous. However, I cant _**wait**_ to get the hell out of here. I would rather be at home right now, than standing out here in a cold Alley with _**you**_ and a damn body, so can I _**go**_ now?"

He gazed down at her for several seconds. She was hiding something. "Fine." He stepped aside and watched her walk up the Alley. "Don't leave town! I may need to ask you some more questions!" He called.

She sighed heavily._ That's just great._ "You know where I am!" She called back.

.

.

Don wandered wearily into his apartment and chucked his keys on the counter. It had been one hell of a day. That sonofabitch Drake Miller had killed Miles Colby when he'd discovered he was sleeping with his ex girlfriend, and Drake had been running from the Police for a week. At least they'd caught up with him tonight, and Don had had the pleasure of kicking his ass and throwing him behind bars.

Don walked across the room and sank down into his recliner. He wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight. He also knew he wouldn't be sitting here for long. He'd spent all of his spare time with Mac trying to find Jo. They should have guessed this wasn't going to be easy. She would know how to cover her tracks and keep from being found. He sighed heavily, leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. God he had one hell of a headache.

Suddenly his phone started trilling. He swore under his breath, pulled it out of his pocket and checked caller ID. He frowned and pressed it to his ear. "Who is this?"

Wyatt watched as the body was loaded into the coroners van. He turned back and started walking back up the Alley. "This is Detective Wyatt Roberts from the Baltimore Police Department. Are you Don Flack.?"

"Uh yea."

"I need your help."

Don glanced down at the phone. "With what?"

"Marty Bosch's body was discovered down an Alley off West Franklin Street tonight."

Don rose from his seat. "Marty Bosch has been killed?"

"Yea. Apparently you worked a case back in New York. . ." Wyatt looked down at his notes. "You found a burnt body. Thought it was Ryan Richards?"

"Yea. We did, but when we'd gathered more evidence, we discovered that the body actually belonged to a Charlie Hunt. Don's frown deepened. "Are you telling me Martys death is connected with this case?"

"Well apparently Marty found out that Ryan Richards and his wife had come to Baltimore. . . "

"Wait a minute. Marty Bosch followed them to Baltimore?"

"We havent got any definite proof of that yet."

Don got to his feet and started to pace. "How do you suddenly know so much about this case?"

Some Private Investigator's just moved into town. Marty walked into her office a few hours ago and told her he'd hacked into the N.Y.P.D database and followed them here. She tried to arrest him, but he wasn't having it. He tore out of her office. She went after him, but she lost him. Fifteen minutes later she found his body." Wyatt released a long breath. "Anyway she told me to contact you, If I needed more on this case, so here I am."

Don came to a sudden stop, his heart suddenly starting to thunder in his ears. "What's her name?"

"Jo Danville."

Don's eyes widened. _My God. They'd found her at last._

Wyatt chuckled. "She's a piece of work I tell ya. Doesn't stop nosing around . . ."

"Where does she work?" Don interrupted quickly.

Wyatt frowned. "Uh. . . She works mid town. 53 Mason Street."

Don grabbed his keys and bolted out of his apartment. "I'll be there first thing in the morning. . . with the case file."

Wyatt raised his eyebrows. "That's really not necessary. I have plenty of Officers to help me out here. You can fax me the information and. . ." He stopped mid sentence and stared down at his phone. He'd hung up. Wyatt shrugged his shoulders. If this guy wanted to come to Baltimore and help out on the case, that was fine by him. He slipped his phone in his Jacket and walked back to his car.

.

.

Mac leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. The department had had a hell of a month, rushed off their feet and buried up to their eyeballs in cases. He'd taken on some temporary Lab Assistants and that was helping to clear the back log, but he was still so damn tired. He hadn't had a decent night sleep for months. He gazed down at his top drawer and hesitated, before slowly sliding it open and bringing out the photo. It was a picture of him and Jo taken about six months ago, when the whole team had gone out one evening to the bar down W 56th Street. His smile faded. _I'm not going to_ _give up Jo. I **will** find you._

He was torn from his thoughts by the sound of the elevator pinging. He put the photo back in the drawer and checked his watch. _Who the hell is that? It's one o'clock in the morning._

He quickly rose from his seat when he saw Don dash out of the elevator and charge across the corridor into his office. "Uh. . . Are you okay?"

Don skidded to a stop and leaned forward needing several seconds to get his breath back.

"Don. What the hell's going on?"

He straightened up and met Mac's anxious gaze. A smile spread across his face. "I know where Jo is."

Mac stared back at Don as stone-silence stretched between them. _Is this a dream? No. I'm_ _awake. . . I'm wide awake. _He blinked. "What did you just say?"

Don moved to Mac's desk, his body still thrumming from the exertion. "Mac! Jo is in Baltimore!"

A huge wave of relief swept through him and he had to grip the edge of the table to keep from collapsing to the floor. "My God. How did you find her?"

"I didn't." Don pushed out a long breath. "I got a call from a Detective Wyatt Roberts from the Baltimore Police Department."

Mac's eyes widened. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. However, Marty Bosch isn't."

Mac frowned. "What?"

"Marty Bosch was killed in an Alley down West Franklin Street. Mac. Jo's been working down there as a P.I."

"A Private Investigator? You're kidding me right?" Mac shook his head and pushed away from his desk. "For God sake Jo."

Don sighed heavily. "She gave Wyatt my name and told him to contact me about the Richards Case."

Mac quickly turned back to Don. "We have to get down there now."

"I have the case file."

Mac quickly flicked through the files on his desk. "They may need the Crime Scene reports too." He pulled them out and grabbed his keys. "And we'll take the Avalanche. I'll get us there in less than four hours."

.

.

After she'd left Wyatt, Jo had gone straight back to her office. She couldn't go home and sleep now. She needed to revise the Ryan Richards Case. She brought the case file up on the screen , read it through and discovered that the N.Y.P.D and the C.S.I Department had found no fresh leads on the case, since she'd left.

At about 03:00 She felt so damn tired, she walked into the back room and collapsed into one of the large soft arm chairs, but she didn't close her eyes. She just lay there thinking of Mac.

After an hour and a half, of trying to get to sleep, she finally gave up and went to the kitchen to make a coffee. She poured it in her flask, grabbed her Jacket and keys and walked out of the building. She came to an abrupt stop at her car and released a long breath._ No Jo. You cant go down there. You need to leave this to the police. _She started to pace around the side walk for several moments. _Look. All I'm doing is going back to the Alley and taking a look_ _around._ _If I find anything I'll call Wyatt Roberts straight away. _She shook her head. _For God sake Jo. You just can't help_ _yourself can you?_ She walked quickly to her car, got in and drove to West Franklin Street.

When she drew up at the top of the alley, she still saw several Police officers and a whole group of CSI Detectives wandering around looking for evidence. Angrily, she slammed her hands down on the steering wheel. "Haven't they finished yet?" She released a long, exasperated breath. "I've got to get out of here before Wyatt sees me." She started the engine and looked back out her rear view mirror.

Her breath stalled in her chest when she noticed a large black vehicle draw up behind her. Her eyes widened. "Oh God. . . It's . . . Mac."

A soul-deep ache gripped her heart, as she watched him jump out of his car and move quickly toward hers. Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them back. _God. I can't face him now._ She shifted the gears and went to slam her foot down on the gas, but not before he flung the passenger door open, dived in and pulled the keys from the ignition.

His heart was still jackhammering in his chest. God the thought of losing her again, had scared him half to death. "Jo Please. It's taken me three months to find you . . . Don't run from me again."

She stared back at him, the anger suddenly slamming through her. "I was giving you some space! Thats what you wanted wasn't it? Distance?!"

He'd asked for that. "I thought it was." Mac dragged a hand over his stubbled jaw, as the sting of regret tightened his chest. He sighed heavily. " But when I saw that resignation letter on my desk and found your apartment _nearly _empty. . . I"

"Look It's okay." She interrupted quickly. "You're here to find Ryan right? I'll let you get on with that." She looked back at her keys in his hand. "Can I have my car keys please? I need to go."

"Jo. Look at me."

She felt the sting of tears, the anger over the circumstances that had brought him back here. The helplessness of feeling totally vulnerable. _Damn it. I was doing fine! I was getting over you Mac! I_ _was moving on! _God. Who was she kidding? The aching pressure in her chest expanded. "Mac I . . . I can't . . ." letting out the air that threatened to burst her lungs she reached for the door handle.

In a flash of movement, Mac's arm shot around her, and his hand encircling hers. Her pulse leaped at the shock of his sudden touch. There it was . . . Instant arousal. Electric heat. She released a long, shaky breath, slowly met his gaze and an immeasurable silence stretched between them.

How could it be that all she had to do was look at him, and he could feel the kiss of her breath on his skin. Powerful. It was so powerful this love he felt, that a physical ache tugged way down deep in his center.

He took a moment to reacclimatize himself to the reactions zinging along his bloodstream like pinballs, then released a long, slightly shaky breath. "That day. . . became the worst day of my life. I've missed you like crazy since you left Jo." Suddenly he saw it in her eyes. Hope, _guarded _hope-sullied by suspicion.

She quickly looked out of the sidewindow and closed her eyes as love and guilt joined forces to undercut her anger. _Damnit Mac._ She pulled her hand from his and clutched her arms around her ribs to keep herself from splintering into a million pieces.

He sighed inwardly. "Okay. We really need to talk about this." He glanced around "But not here."

"I need some fresh air. And . . . I need to see Don." She quickly got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her. She drew in a deep breath, let it out and glanced up the road at the Avalanche.

.

.

Don heard a car door slam shut. He looked up from the file and saw Jo walking toward him. He dropped his notes onto Mac's seat and jumped out.

Hesitantly, She moved toward him. "Hey." Before she could say anything else, Don had enveloped her in a giant bear hug nearly squeezing her half to death.

"God I missed you." He pulled away and gazed back down at her. "How are you doing?"

She noticed his smile fade, the lace of concern in his voice. "I'm. . . fine."

He sighed inwardly and shook his head at her. "You're lying Jo. You hate it here. Now for God sake just sort this out with Mac, then we'll find Ryan and Lisa Richards, wrap up this case, and you'll come back to New York with us. The team are miserable without you."

_._

"Look. Don. . . It's not that simple. . ."

"It is Jo. You just need to listen to him and give him a chance to explain why he behaved like a complete jerk, then you'll understand."

She pushed out a breath and looked away.

"C'mon Jo. Give him a chance to explain."

Jo glanced back at her car. "Okay." She answered quietly.

.

.

_**OKAY. . . I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, BUT I'LL THINK OF SOMETHING. LOL!**_

_**I'M GOING TO THORPE PARK TOMORROW. FOR ALL OF MY REVIEWERS THAT ARE NOT FROM THE UK, IT's A MASSIVE THEME PARK. . . LOADS OF RIDES, ROLLERCOASTERS. . . THAT SORT OF THING. :D LOVE IT! BUT I THINK I MIGHT JUST MANAGE TO GET THE CHAPTER UP THURSDAY.**_

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	6. Chapter 6

_**HEY**_. :)

_**I HOPE YOU LIKE THE NEXT CHAPTER AND THE DIRECTION. I'M TAKING WITH THE STORY. WHICH WILL MEAN MAC ACTION TO COME. AND JO SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. :D**_

_**PLEASE R&R.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

.

.

_Hesitantly, Jo walked toward Don. "Hey."_

_Before she could say anything else he enveloped her in a giant bear hug, nearly squeezing her to death._

"_God. I missed you." He pulled away and gazed down at her. "How are you doing?"_

_She noticed his smile fade and the lace of concern in his voice. "I'm. . . Fine."_

_He sighed and shook his head. "You're lying Jo. You hate it here. Now for God sake just sort this out with Mac, then we'll find Ryan and Lisa Richards, wrap up this case and you will come back to New York with us. The team are miserable without you."_

"_Look Don. It's not that simple."_

"_It is Jo. You need to give him a chance to explain why he's acted like a complete Jerk. Then you'll understand."_

_She stared up at him for several seconds. My God. Don knew about what happened between Mac and I? Fantastic! She released a heavy breath and looked away._

"_C'mon Jo. Give him a chance."_

_She glanced back at her car. "Okay." She replied quietly._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 6.**_

.

.

Jo walked through the door and chucked her keys on the counter.

Mac looked around. "Did you buy this whole building?"

"Yep. We'll go to the second floor." She started to walk upstairs.

Mac glanced along the hallway. "What's on the ground floor?"

"My Office and a kitchen area."

Mac watched her for a couple of seconds as she continued to climb the stairs. "Right." He pushed out a long breath and followed her.

Jo walked into her living area. It was a large room with a TV sat in the corner and several chairs dotted around. She'd got the new carpet fitted, but a week ago she decided, she hated the colour of the walls and had stripped them down. Sand paper and pots of paint surrounded the room. "Uh. . . Excuse the mess. I haven't got round to painting the walls yet."

Mac followed her in._ Forget the damn walls and just come back to New York with me! _He forced himself to stay calm. "Jo?. . ."

"Do you want a drink? We've got coffee, tea." She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge door . "I've even got light beer. . ."

Mac walked quickly toward her and slammed the door shut. "I don't need a drink."

She came to an abrupt stop, slightly stunned by his quick movements and his sudden closeness.

"What I _**need,**_ is for you to come back to New York."

She took a deep, unsteady breath and stepped back. "I . . ." _Oh God. _She looked away and started to pace. "I can't."

"Why?"

Jo swallowed into an aching throat and walked back into the living area. "Mac. Just say what you have to say and leave."

Mac sighed heavily followed her back to the main room and collapsed into the chair opposite her. "Okay. . . First. I just want to say . . . It's my fault that John Curtis hurt you Jo and I'm sorry. . ."

Her eyes flashed back at his. Slowly she uncrossed her arms.

"Secondly, I just want to . . .

"Wait." She interrupted. "You blame yourself for what happened to me?"

He sighed and gazed back at her. "I should have . . . come with you."

Slowly, she sat up in her chair. "Mac. You were busy finishing another case."

He shook his head. "I was just checking the damn Crime Scene report." He got to his feet and started pacing. "I should have left it till later." He turned to the window and looked out. "I failed . . . to protect you."

Jo rose out of her seat. "Mac. You didn't fail me. You were there for me. You took care of me . . . You helped me get back on my feet."

He spun back to her. "Jo. You could have died!"

She stared back at him. "Mac. I didn't die. I was able to protect myself. I put a bullet in Curtis, remember?"

"And what if you'd been too hurt to use your weapon?" He glanced out the window. "I could have lost you that day. . . I failed you. . . just like I. . . failed Clare." he whispered.

Jo's eyes widened. _My God. He blamed himself for Clare's death? _Jo released a long, shaky breath and slowly started to walk toward him. "Why do you think you failed to protect Clare?"

"I don't think I failed to protect her Jo, I _**know**_ I did."

She took a couple more steps toward him. "Okay. So why do you think you know?"

He let out a long, weary breath. "That . . . morning, she suggested we have breakfast at a café along fifth Avenue. I said I couldn't. I had to . . . finish writing up a damn stupid case." Stiff armed, he gripped the window ledge with both hands and hung his head. "If I'd had breakfast with Clare, we would have still been sitting in that café, when the first plane slammed into that Tower. If I'd just left the damn paperwork . . ."

_Oh God! No!_ Tears stung her eyes at the raw pain in his voice. This hadn't been about him wanting to keep their relationship strictly professional because he was worried how it would affect his standing in the department. He was terrified. She could see it now, and now she knew the source of that fear. If she'd just thought a little harder, dug a little deeper, instead of running away, she'd have figured it out long ago. "Mac. What happened to Clare wasn't your fault."

He swallowed hard and continued to stare out the window.

Jo walked up to him and gazed into his eyes. "How would Clare feel if you told her you felt responsible for her death? Would she agree? Would she blame you?"

He had nothing to say to that.

"She wouldn't would she? And neither do I, because it wasn't your fault." She wrapped her arms around him, laid her head on his chest. "It wasn't your fault." Jo repeated softly. "The only one who thinks so is you."

His shoulders sagged, his face grew slack, then he just sort of crumbled in her arms and in that moment, the heavy burden of guilt and sorrow, like the weight of the entire world that had pressed down on him for so many years, started to lift away.

He let out a shaky breath, pulled her against him and breathed her in, simply wallowing in her scent and her softness, and finally in the nearness of her.

Several moments passed, then he pulled away, gripped her shoulders in his hands and looked deep in her eyes. "I love you."

Her breath caught. She opened her mouth. Shut it. She couldn't talk. Couldn't think. She gazed wide eyed up at him, his beautiful, serious face, no longer a curtain over his emotions, but a window to them.

He caught her hand loosely in his. Kissed the tips of her fingers. "Yes Jo. I love you . . . I can't lose you again. Please. Come back to Manhattan with me?" He moved his other hand to her face and with tender fingers, he skimmed over her forehead, along her cheekbone, brushing away a strand of her hair. His touch moved lower, and cupping her Jaw he brought his mouth to hers.

She'd craved the touch of his lips for months, yearned for his taste and she opened to him, wanting to lose herself in him. His arm drew tight around the small of her back and she pressed herself against him. She knew how his bare skin felt against her. She knew how amazing it felt to have him inside her. She'd run those feelings over in her thoughts for months. In her dreams. And she never thought she'd get to experience them again.

"Mac." Her voice was little more than a whisper, but it rumbled through his chest. He drew away, gazed into her beautiful dark eyes.

"I want you to know, I love you too. I've . . . loved you for a . . . long time."

His heart tripped in his chest. "You have?"

"Yes. I never believed what people said about love at first sight not until I figured out. . ." She locked gazes with his and several seconds of silence stretched between them. ". . . that it happened to me."

Mac's eyes widened as the revelation suddenly hit him like a bolt of lightning. "To us." He interrupted quickly. _My God._ He gazed deeper into her eyes. "Until it happened to us . . . when we saw each other for the first time." He leaned toward her again, his lips inches from hers. "Until I saw you looking down at me from that balcony."

She blinked back the tears. _I can't believe it. We've __**both**__ loved each other all these years?_

He searched her face and in that moment he realised just how much he had hurt her. How much he had hurt them both, by denying he was in love with her and running from the truth, not just after they shared that first kiss, that first night together, but since he first saw her.

That's why he never gave up looking for her. That's why he'd missed her. Missed her like hell. Missed her until his insides felt as empty as a retired tank. Rusted. Hollow. Gutted of purpose. "God. . . Jo I'm so sorry . . ."

"No more regrets about the past." She didn't want to know anything more than what she felt right this minute. What she knew deep in her own heart right now. "I need you in my life Mac. I need you to let me love you from now on. I need us to move on. Can we do that?" She asked softly.

She had completely changed his life. She'd soothed away the pain that had held him down for so long and altered the simple, tidy pattern he had been weaving for himself. There was nothing he would do now, to change back to the man he had once been. "Yes. With you beside me I can."

A smile curved her lips. "Then I better come back to New York."

Oh man. He was the luckiest SOB in the world. He didn't deserve her - wouldn't in a million years. God. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She'd saved him from himself and now he was going to spend the rest of his life doing everything he could to make her happy.

Her smile widened. "Shall we skip the 'How have you been?' for now, and move on to the 'More than friends' part."

He smiled back and pulled her tighter against him so there was no space between them. "That sounds like a good plan."

She tightened her grip around him and led him through a door on their right, into another large room.

She slipped out of his grasp, jumped onto the bed and arranged herself in the middle of it. "If you come in here _babe," _She said, rising up on an elbow and affecting a warning glare, "You're going to get exactly what you're looking for. And don't expect some polite little in-and-out and "Oh darling, that was-'"

Mac dived for the bed, flattened her beneath him and ended her mocking monologue with a searing kiss.

She was giggling when he lifted his head, while struggling to get out of his shirt. "God I missed you Jo."

Her smile faded. She reached out and slid her fingers through his hair. "I missed you too." She pulled him towards her for another kiss, and Heat and passion raced through them igniting their hearts once again as the kiss deepened between them. All they could feel was how much they wanted each other. How much they needed each other. That was all that mattered. Love. And it wiped the pain away.

_**Two Hours Later.**_

.

.

Her damp hair felt like silk against his shoulders. Mac sifted it through his fingers, playing with it's cool weight, loving the feeling of her naked and spent beside him. They'd made love like monkeys. Then they'd showered and fallen back into bed and made love again. Sweet and slow this time, with all the pain of their separation and all the joy of their reunion threaded through each stroke of his body into hers, each tug of her welcoming strength.

Mac sighed inwardly. God. He just wanted to stay here forever. He leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of his head. "I have to get back to Don."

She rose up on an elbow. "I know." She started to get out of the bed. "I'll come with you."

"Jo. . ." He gripped her waist and rolled her beneath him. "You're still a P.I. At the moment. That makes you're a civilian. If the Baltimore P.D see you anywhere near that Crime Scene, they'll arrest you."

_Damn it. _"Hide me under your black coat then."

He grinned. "No. I'm not hiding you under my black coat. Now stay here."

Her smile faded "Fine." She sighed.

He kissed her forehead, then got off the bed and started moving around the room trying to locate his clothes.

Jo rose back up on her elbow and was admiring Mac's gorgeous body, when she heard a knock on her door.

She frowned and looked around at her clock. "Who can that be knocking on my door at 06:30?" She jumped out of the bed and moved quickly to her drawer.

Mac muttered under his breath and pulled on his slacks. "Let me guess, An annoying client has come to check if you've found the guy who's sleeping with his wife yet?"

Jo rolled her eyes and glanced back at Mac. "For your information. I haven't taken on an adultery case." She chucked the clothes on the bed and hurriedly started to get dressed.

The knocking became more persistent. "Jo. It's Wyatt! Open the door!"

"Oh Great. What have I done now." She grumbled.

Mac glanced back at her. "Wyatt?"

Jo pulling on her pants and sighed heavily. "Detective Wyatt Roberts of the Baltimore Police Department."

"I remember now. You gave him Don's number." _after you chased Marty down a dark alley, late at_ _night alone and with no back up. Goddamit Jo. You could have got yourself killed. _He sighed inwardly and let it go.

"Jo. If you don't open up in ten seconds. I'm breaking it down!" Wyatt shouted through the door.

Jo's eyes widened. "What?" She pulled on her sweater and rushed out of the bedroom. "Wyatt! Don't you dare break my door down! I'm coming!"

Mac frowned and quickly started to get dressed.

Jo bolted down the stairs, unlocked her door and swung it open. "It's 06:30 in the morning. . ."

He sighed inwardly. "I need to come in a moment."

Wyatt brushed passed her, quickly followed by two uniformed officers and finally Don. She noticed immediately, that he was staring angrily at Wyatt.

"Don what's going on?"

He turned back to her. "Uh. . . I don't know exactly."

"Jo. I need you to come in here!" Wyatt called back.

Her eye's flashed across the hallway. He'd already let himself into her damn office. She glanced at Don and immediately unease crawled up her spine when she saw the anxiety in his expression.

Wyatt raised his voice a little louder."Jo!"

She tore her eyes from his, then turned and walked quickly across the hallway and into her office. "What is this about Wyatt?"

"I need you to hand over your gun."

She raised her eye brows. "What! . . . Why?"

Wyatt released a long pent up breath and glanced back at her. "Some results have just come back from the Crime lab. So far all that's been found on Marty s body and in the area where he was killed, is a lot of D.N.A belonging to you.

She rolled her eyes. "Well of course you did. I was there. You know that." She frowned back at him. "Wait. You found not one trace of evidence that pointed to Ryan Richards being down in that Alley last night?"

"No. All that's been found is your hair traces, your DNA all over the Crime Scene."

Her eyes widened. "You think I. . . "

Mac barged through into her office and moved quickly toward her. "My God. You think Jo killed Marty Bosch. Are you crazy?!"

Wyatt looked up and glanced suspiciously at him. "Who the hell are you?"

Mac took a step toward him. "Detective Mac Taylor head of the CSI Department In New York." he answered, in a low, stern voice.

Don stepped between Mac and Wyatt. "Okay. I think we all need to just . . . calm down a little here." He turned back to Mac. "Me and you both know Jo didn't kill Marty. We just have to go by the book here. You know that right?"

Mac pushed out a breath and moved back to Jo.

She tore her eyes from Wyatt and glanced back at him.

Mac gripped her shoulders. "It's okay. We'll get this cleared up in no time." He assured her.

"Jo. I need to see your gun."

Mac sighed and released her shoulders.

She turned back and narrowed her eyes at Wyatt. "I'll go and get the key." She walked to her book case, pulled it out slightly and grabbed her key from a small alcove in the wall. Then she walked back to her desk and unlocked her drawer.

"Wyatt walked up to her. "I'll take it."

She watched him pull on some latex gloves and take the weapon out of the drawer.

"I checked your firearms permit and your concealed weapons permit. You own a glock 22 and here it is." He took a closer look at it and checked the model and serial number. He pushed out a heavy breath and shifted his eyes back at her. "This one's chambered for .40 S&W Cartridges with a standard magazine of 15 rounds, right?"

Jo sighed heavily. "You know this already Wyatt. You came round here and checked my firearms permit and concealed weapons permit just two weeks ago."

He stared across at her for several seconds. "The bullet of a Glock 22 was found in Martys chest last night. Upon further analysis it has been confirmed that the bullet was fired from a .40 S&W Cartridge. Did you fire your weapon last night Jo?"

Mac shook his head and glared at Wyatt.

"No. It's a new gun. Fortunately I haven't been in the position where I've needed to fire it yet." Jo answered exasperatedly. "It's fully loaded."

He pulled out the magazine and checked the cartridge. Slowly he glanced back at her. "So how do you explain the missing bullet?"

_Ah Crap!_ Don closed his eyes and slid his hands through his hair.

Mac's eyes flashed to Jo's.

Jo stared back at Wyatt, then down at the gun in his hand. "I haven't used my weapon. Let me see it."

He reached across the desk and showed her the magazine. _Oh My God! _Her eyes flashed back at his. "I haven't fired my weapon, so this gun isn't mine."

"Jo, but I've checked it a dozen times. This_** is **_your gun. It has the model and serial number under the barrel. _Your_ serial number, 355058 right?"

She stared back at Wyatt as the shock bolted through her system.

Wyatt sighed inwardly. "We're gonna have to search this property."

Mac had to physically restrain himself from diving across her desk, wrapping his hands around Wyatt's throat and choking him half to death, but that wasn't going to help Jo right now. He settled himself, leaned forward and fisted his hands on her desk instead. "Jo didn't do this Wyatt. Check her records."

"I have Mac."

Jo took a deep unsteady breath and continued to gaze back at the gun. _My God. What's going on?_

Wyatt shifted his eyes around the room, then glanced back at her desk. He saw a large brown A4 envelope on top of her in-tray and picked it up. "What's this?"

Jo looked up, frowned. Before she had a chance to answer Wyatt tore it open and emptied out piles of $50 bills.

Jo's breath stalled in her chest.

"What the hell. . ." Don moved quickly to her desk. "Jo . . . What's going on?"

She stared wide eyed down at the obscene amount of money, totally lost for words.

Wyatt picked up the stacks of money and counted the notes. He stared back at her. "Jo? What's ten thousand dollars of unmarked, non sequential $50 bills doing in your office?"

Finally she found her voice. "I . . . I haven't . . . seen that envelope . . . not until you picked it up." She forced herself to stay calm and started scanning the room for anything else she'd missed.

_My God!_ Mac leaned heavily on her desk and turned to Don.

Don's met Mac's intense gaze.

Mac didn't have to say it. Don had already came to the same conclusion as him. Jo had been set up.

.

.

_**I HAVE SEEN A STORY BEING WRITTEN ABOUT MAC BEING SET UP BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO IS WRITING IT. I THINK IT'S CALLED PARADOX. SO I THOUGHT, LET'S HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN TO JO? :D**_

_**I WILL BE WRITING A COUPLE OF SCENES ABOUT THE CSI TEAM'S REACTIONS. . . ELATION THAT JO'S BEEN FOUND, AND THEN THEIR REACTION SOON AFTER, WHEN THEY FIND OUT JO'S BEEN FRAMED FOR MARTY'S MURDER. AS WELL AS HOW MAC AND DON COPE WITH IT. **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**HEY :D**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**OKAY , SO I HOPE YOU LIKE THE NEXT CHAPTER.**_

_**THANKYOU AGAIN EVERYONE FOR YOUR KIND REVIEWS. :D**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_Wyatt shifted his eyes around the room, then glanced back at her desk. He saw a large brown A4 envelope on top of her intray and picked it up. "What's this?"_

_Jo looked up, frowned. Before she had a chance to answer, Wyatt tore the envelope open and emptied out piles of $50 notes._

_Her breath stalled in her chest._

"_What the hell? . . ." Don moved quickly to her desk "Jo. Whats going on?"_

_She stared wide eyed down at the obscene amount of money, totally lost for words._

_Wyatt Picked up a stack of money and counted the notes. He gazed back at her. "Jo? What's Ten thousand dollars of unmarked, non sequential $50 bills doing in your office?"_

_Finally she found her voice. "I. . . I haven't seen that envelope. . . not until you picked it up." She forced herself to calm down and started scanning the room for anything else she'd missed._

_Mac leaned heavily on the table and turned to Don._

_Don met Mac's intense gaze._

_Mac didn't have to say it. Don had already come t the same conclusion as him. Jo had been set up._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 7.**_

.

.

Lindsay had been so excited that Mac and Don had found Jo, that she'd gone out and brought several bunches of flowers, a welcome back banner and half a dozen balloons. Thirty minutes later, Danny had found her arranging the flowers in Jo's office. He came to a stop at the door and looked in. "Nice flowers."

Lindsay whirled around and grinned back at Danny. "They're Jo's favourites." She grabbed the packet of balloons. "Help me blow these up."

Danny smile faded. "Look. We don't know Jo's coming back yet."

"She will Danny. I know she will." She glanced back at Jo's desk and sighed inwardly. No. She didn't know, but she couldn't accept that Jo might not be coming back.

Adam and Sheldon charged into Jo's office and nearly sent Danny flying.

Adam glanced at the balloons and a grin appeared on his face. "We're gonna need more of these."

Danny frowned. "Isn't a packet enough?"

Sheldon chuckled. "He wants to fill her whole office with balloons."

Danny raised his eyebrows at him.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "You want to see how many balloons you can get into Jo's office don't you?"

Adam's grin widened. "Wouldn't that be great?" He looked back at Danny. "We'll get Lindsay to blow up the balloons and fill this place to the ceiling with them. Then us three get one guess. How many balloons are in Jo's office? If I get the closest guess, you and Sheldon have to hand me 50 bucks each."

Lindsay chuckled. "I haven't got time to blow up balloons Adam. I have evidence to process."

Danny's smile faded. He glanced back down the corridor and muttered under his breath. "Luis Edwards wont let you do that any way Adam." He sighed. "Actually. I think that if we blow up just one balloon he'll confiscate it."

Lindsay glanced down at the balloon she'd just brought out of the packet. "I really don't like this guy." She released a long, frustrated breath and threw the balloon onto the chair next to her.

Luis was a complete Jerk. Mac said he was taking him on temporarily, to fill in for Jo until she came back.

Danny thought about that morning three months ago. When Mac had ushered them into the conference room, told them Jo had left and that he had no idea where she had gone. God. That was a bad day.

Mac never mentioned Jo's name after that, but the team guessed that he'd been talking to Don about his feelings for her. Don only shared this one thing with them though - He and Mac weren't going to give up searching until they'd found her. Danny smiled inwardly. Well now they had. Jesus. He still couldn't believe she'd been in Baltimore all this time.

He glanced back down the corridor to see if Luis was lurking around, then turned back to Lindsay, Adam and Sheldon. "C'mon guys. We better get back to work before jerkface sees us."

They were on their way back to the lab, when Danny's phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked caller ID. His eyes flashed back at Lindsay. "It's Don."

Adam and Sheldon slammed to a stop and dashed back to Danny.

Danny pressed the phone to his ear. "Hey. Hows Jo?"

Don walked out of the precinct. "She's . . . okay."

"Don, Please tell me that all three of you are on your way back here, because I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to physically restrain myself from strangling Edwards."

Don tightened his grip on the phone. "We . . . wont be back today."

Danny pushed out a breath, brought the phone away from his ear and pushed down on the button. "I know. You've got the Richards Case, but can't the Baltimore Police Department take it over now?"

Don started to pace around the side walk. "Yes they can, but . . . Jo can't leave Baltimore right now?"

Lindsay and Adam exchanged confused glances.

Sheldon moved closer to Danny's phone. "She _**can't**_ leave Baltimore?"

Don released a long, deflated breath. "No."

Danny frowned. "Why?"

My God! Don closed his eyes and dragged his fingers through his hair. "Okay. . . . There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna come out with it."

Lindsay gazed anxiously down at the phone. "Don. What's happened?"

"It looks like Jo's been framed for Marty Bosch's murder."

Danny started to chuckle. "You're kidding right?"

Don closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I wish I was Danny."

Danny stopped chuckling immediately. "What?"

Adam's eyes widened. "But . . . thats crazy."

"Yea." Don sighed. "I know."

Lindsay and Sheldon just stood there gaping down at the phone.

"Jo said she hasn't fired her gun since she bought it, but ballistics says otherwise. She said it was loaded, but there's a bullet missing. Ten thousand dollars was also found in her office. She doesn't know how it got here." He swallowed hard. "The average price for a contract killing here In Baltimore can range from five to ten thousand dollars."

Silence, taut with tension filled the corridor as the team stared down at the phone in stunned shock.

Suddenly Mac tore passed him. Don looked across the side walk and saw Brad get out of his car. "I've got to go. Jo's Defense Lawyer's turned up."

"Who is it?" Danny asked quickly.

"Brad Higgins. I'll call you back in a couple of hours with an update." He hung up and hurried after Mac.

Danny blew out a shaky breath and glanced back at the team. "Don't worry, Brad Higgins is good. He'll get Jo out of this."

.

.

Wyatt leaned his elbows on the table and stared across at her. "Just tell me where you went after you left the Crime Scene?"

She shook her head and glanced away.

Wyatt rose out of his seat and started pacing around the room. "This isn't looking too good for you Jo, especially when you're refusing to answer my questions."

"You're interrogation techniques wont work with me Wyatt, so save your breath." she answered in a bored tone.

He moved quickly toward her and slammed his hands down on the table. "Answer the damn question now!"

She glared up at him. "The law states that once a person invokes their right to counsel, all Police interrogation must stop. I've told you twice, I wont answer any questions until my Lawyer is present." She leaned toward him. "Your treading a very thin line Wyatt."

He stared defiantly down at her. "I'm just trying to find the truth."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "Really?"

He moved closer until he was right in her face. "I have enough circumstantial evidence to convict you Jo."

She swallowed hard, tried to steady herself. "That wont stand up in court."

"Wont it?"

Suddenly the door swung open.

Wyatt straightened quickly and whirled around.

Mac tore in behind Brad. "What the hells going on?"

Brad did a mental eye roll and whirled back around to him. "Did I tell you to follow me in here. Now go and find me some hidden evidence will ya?" he whispered exasperatedly.

Mac stared furiously back at Wyatt, then shot Jo a concerned look.

_My God. Brad Higgins?_ Mac had gone and found her one of the best defense lawyers in the whole of America. She glanced back at Mac and smiled. _Thankyou._

What the hell was he worrying about. Jo could hold her own, against the toughest interrogation. He smiled back at her.

"Get the hell out Mac, or I'll have you thrown out of this precinct." Wyatt growled.

Slowly Mac met his intense gaze and glared at him.

"Get out." Brad whispered urgently.

Mac sighed. "I'm going." He gazed back at Jo. "Gave her a descreet wave, and disappeared out the door."

Brad turned back to Wyatt. "I need a private room to go over the case with my client."

Wyatt grabbed the file and stared angrily back at her "Fine. 2B is free. Follow me."

Brad watched Wyatt walk out of the room. He turned around to her. "Hey."

A shadow of a smile crossed her face. "Hey. How've you been?"

"Good." his smile faded. "You okay."

She rested her hands on her hips and released a long breath. "I don't know."

He rested his hand on her upper arm. "I'm gonna do everything I can to get you out of this, okay?"

She looked away and nodded.

"C'mon. Lets go."

She watched him head for the door. She couldn't ask him about Laura and the Kids, or find out about how his trip to Botswana went. Their interactions would need to remain on a strictly professonal basis for now. She released a long, pent up breath and walked quickly after him.

.

.

_**Two Hours Later.**_

Ryan moved away from the window and grabbed the bags. "We've got to get out of here now!"

She stared back at him, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't do this anymore."

He stared back at her for a long moment, then he released a long, shaky breath and leaned back against the Wardrobe. "God. Lisa . . . I'm so sorry."

She moved quickly towards him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay."

.

.

Mac and Don followed Tony Lockhurst and several uniformed officers up the stairs to Ryan and Lisa's apartment. When they reached the fourth floor, they pushed passed them and ran to the door. Don knocked loudly. "Ryan! This is the police! Open up!"

Tony moved quickly toward them. "I'm leading this team. You need to back away now."

Mac muttered under his breath.

Don stared angrily back at Tony. "Fine. Can we just get in there?!"

Tony sighed heavily. "Yes." He turned back to the door "Ryan!" He started to knock. Suddenly he heard movement from inside. "Damnit" He looked back to Mac, Don and the other officers. "Lets bust this down. They reared back and were just about to surge for the door when it opened.

Ryan raised his hands. "Okay . . . Okay. I'm turning myself in."

.

.

_**Back in the interrogation room,**_ Jo pushed out a long, weary breath and slouched back slightly in her chair.

Wyatt's gaze remained steady on hers as he repeated the question. "What did you do after you left me at the alley Jo?"

She looked around at Brad.

He sighed inwardly, shook his head at her and went back to reading his notes.

She turned back to Wyatt. "No comment."

Frustrated, Wyatt rose out of his seat and started pacing. "You had a good stable job working as a CSI Detective." He moved towards her and leaned his hands on the table. "Why did you leave Manhattan the very same day you handed in your resignation, huh?"

_Oh God!_ She drew in a deep breath, let it out. The Baltimore C.S.I Department must have searched her building for evidence by now. Had Wyatt found out, she and Mac had been up on the second floor early this morning, doing a little more than just talking? She stayed very still, her gaze steady on his "No comment."

Slowly, Brad leaned back in his seat and cursed inwardly.

There was a knock on the door. It opened and Tony poked his head through. "I need to talk to you."

Jo turned around to Brad. He was glancing curiously across the room at Tony. Brad had informed her half an hour ago, that Ryan and Lisa had been arrested and brought to the station, but that was all they knew so far.

Jo looked back at Wyatt as he stopped the audio tape and walked quickly out of the room.

Brad got to his feet. "Okay. I'm going to find out what's going on."

Jo rose quickly out of the chair. _Please, please, please let it be that Richards has confessed to killing_ _Marty._

Brad met her intense gaze. "You have to stay here remember?"

_Dammit._ She crossed her arms and stared across at the glass.

He sighed inwardly. "Jo."

Slowly she glanced back at him.

"Just try and relax. I'll be back soon."

She watched Brad disappear out the door. _God. This is driving me crazy._ She took a deep breath and started pacing around the room.

.

.

Brad walked out into the corridor and saw Don and Mac gazing into the room at Jo, looking as glum as ever. He turned to Tony who was now showing Wyatt some paperwork. "What's going on?"

Wyatt glanced around to him and handed him the sheet of paper. "See for yourself."

Brad took it and scanned the information in front of him. _Oh My God!_ Ryan and Lisa had both given spontaneous statements. They'd told Tony and another detective that they were at a bar in Darwin Cove from around 22:00 until 23:40 last night. Tony had got in contact with five members of staff and they all said they saw Ryan and Lisa at various stages throughout the evening. Two of the bar staff and the bar owner himself, had even seen them leave at 23:40. Tony had also gone and visited a Stuart Townsend, who lived in the apartment next door to theirs, and he'd told Tony, he saw Ryan and Lisa coming back at around Midnight. Brad muttered under his breath and glanced back at Wyatt. "I need to speak with her."

Wyatt smiled back at Brad. "Take all the time you need." He held up another form. "I'm having her detained for 72 hours."

Mac spun around to Wyatt. "You're What?"

"Jo is a suspect in a murder investigation Mac, and you know I can legally keep her in custody for up to 72 hours. When Brads finished filling her in on the good news, she's going down to a nice cosy cell in the basement." Wyatt bit out sarcastically.

Tony raised his eye brows at Wyatt.

_Sonofabitch! _Mac surged toward Wyatt and slammed him up against the wall. Unfortunately Don, Brad and Tony had grabbed him and pulled him away, before Mac could get a fist in his face.

Wyatt glared back at him. "I happen to_** know**_ that you and Jo got _**very**_ close this morning."

Don raised his eyebrows at Mac. _What?_

Rage slammed Mac's chest. He pulled himself free of Brad and Don's grip and took several steps toward him.

Brad quickly moved in front of him. "For God sake Mac. This isn't going to help Jo, so calm down."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Mac. "I'm watching you."

_Gezus God!_ Mac stared furiously at him as Wyatt turned and walked up the corridor. "What the hell are you implying?!" He shouted after him.

Tony stared incredulously at Wyatt as he stormed off up the corridor. "Uh . . . I've gotta . . . go." He turned and jogged after him.

Mac released a long, pent up breath and looked back into the interrogation room. Jo was leaning back against the table staring wide eyed at the glass. She'd heard them. "I need to talk to Jo."

A uniformed office stepped in front of him. "I can't allow you to go in there."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Look. It's just for a couple of minutes."

Brad walked up to Mac. "Do you really think it's gonna do her any good seeing you like this?"

Mac glanced back in the room. "No." he murmured quietly.

"_**I'll**_ go and talk to her."

Don pushed away from the wall. "Okay. This is what we need to do."

Mac turned back to Don and released a heavy breath. "We need to go back to her office and see if we can find anything on the two cases she worked."

"Yep. Maybe she uncovered something that pissed someone off." Don replied.

Brad turned back to the door. "Find me something guys."

Mac watched Brad disappear into the room.

Don placed his hand on Mac's shoulder. "C'mon! She needs us to get back out there and find out who did this."

"Yea. I know." He looked back through the glass and saw the stunned shock slowly appear on her face as Brad began to tell her the bad news. God. It was killing him being seperated from her like this. He swallowed into an aching throat, turned and followed Don up the corridor.

.

.

When Mac and Don drove back to Jo's office, Don called Danny and filled him in on the latest news. Several minutes later Danny still hadn't said a word.

Don locked Mac's car and pressed his phone closer to his ear. "Danny are you actually there?"

Danny forced himself out of his shocked state and rose out of his seat. "Jesus Christ." He started to pace around the lab. "Are you sure Richards couldn't have done this?"

"We have too many eye witnesses accounts, that state Ryan and Lisa entered the bar at 22:00 and didn't leave until 23:40. Darwin Cove is 10 miles from Baltimore Danny. There was no way Ryan could have murdered Marty Bosch."

Danny released a long frustrated breath. _Dammit!_ He leaned back against the work top. "How's Jo holding up?" he asked quietly.

"She'll be fine." Don walked into the building and through the hallway to her office. He looked across at Mac. He was standing behind Jo's desk frowning down at a file in his hand. "Danny, I've . . . gotta go."

"Uh Don? . . . Lindsay and Adam should be with you in a couple of hours."

Don raised his eyebrows. "They're on their way down here?!"

Mac looked up at Don. "Who's on their way down here?"

"Okay. . . yea. I'll let him know . . ." Don cursed under his breath. "Don't you dare. We don't want to be dealing with that when we get back." He hung up and sighed heavily.

"Let me take a guess. Lindsay's on her way here with Adam, and Danny's at loggerheads with Luis?"

"Well, Luis is a pain in the ass Mac."

Mac shook his head and glanced back down at the case file. "The sooner we get this mess sorted out and leave this damn town, the better."

Don frowned and walked toward him. "What have you got there?" His eyes widened when he saw the front of the file. "She's got a copy of a case file? . . ." He looked closer. " . . . on an illegal gambling business?" He scanned the page. "Wyatt was running that case."

"Yea. And Jo happened to stumble upon this little gambling enterprise three weeks ago." He skipped several pages and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here's a copy of her written statement." He frowned back at Don. "Why did Jo get hold of the whole case file?"

.

.

Jo spun around and moved quickly back to the front of the cell. "Brad. Just get me out of here!"

"Jo calm down okay. Ryan Richards didn't kill Marty so we have to start thinking about . . ."

Jo gripped the bars tightly. "He did!" She interrupted angrily. "He . . . must have done."

"Jo I've shown you the report. You know he couldn't have done it."

She stared at Brad for a long moment. She sighed heavily and pushed away from the bars. "My God. Who set me up?"

"That's what we're going to find out. Now we have to start looking again, at the two cases you worked this last month."

Jo dragged her fingers through her hair and started to pace. "Brad. My two clients wouldn't have done this. Kai Roberts, was just upset when I told him what I'd found out about his brother and Diane Hall was over the moon, when I found her father."

Brad heard footsteps. He looked around and saw Mac and Don walking quickly up the dark corridor toward him.

Mac handed him the case file and walked quickly toward her. "Hey. You okay?"

She grabbed the bars and stared into his eyes. God. It was so good to see him. She smiled. "Yes. I'm fine . . . now." She answered quietly.

Don smiled inwardly. Them two had totally made up. That was one issue resolved. His smile faded. Now they just needed to get Jo cleared of Marty's murder.

It was one of those moments for Mac, where time seemed to stand still and for a moment, he'd totally forgot, that Don and Brad were right behind him.

He reached out and touched her cheek. "It's gonna be fine. Just hang in there." He whispered. God. He was desperate to hold her right now.

_I knew those two would get together eventually._ Brad smiled inwardly and gazed back down at the case file. He started to flick through the pages and frowned when he saw the copy of Jo's written statement. "Mac. Was this case file in Jo's office?"

Jo tore her eyes from Mac and glanced back at Brad. When she saw the file in his hand her breath caught in her throat. _Oh God. _"I'm not suppose to have that case file. If Wyatt knows I've got it . . ." She stopped mid-sentence _Dammit._ She closed her eyes and looked away.

Brad started to read aloud. "A group off 22 men were arrested a month ago in South View Road. They were running an illegal gambling business." He raised his eyebrows. "An underground Poker Club." He glanced back at Jo. "And according to your written statement You were down there playing some Poker that night."

She pushed out a long, weary breath and glanced out of the cell at the three of them. They didn't look too happy, especially Mac. "Okay. I was doing some undercover investigative work. I thought Diane's father may have passed through that part of town and Diane had told me that he'd been a gambling man, so I done some digging around and found out that someone was running a Poker Club in Calvert Street. I went down there, played a few games of Poker. . . and won." She started to smile at Mac. He didn't smile back. She sighed Inwardly and started to pace around the cell. "After I'd been in there 20 minutes, I left the poker room and started searching around, hoping to find Diane's father. Fortunately I didn't, but I _**did**_ stumble upon an office. I'd already suspected that something dodgy was going on, so I went in there, checked the computer and managed to bring up the online accounts. That's when I found out they were running an illegal Poker Club. So I . . . got away from there."

Don stared incredulously at her. "They followed you out of that club, chased you down an alley and surrounded you Jo."

_For God Sake. This is all in your damn statement you idiot?_ Slowly she met Mac's anxious gaze. "It's okay. I was fine. I phoned the police and they got to me in time." She assured him.

Brad looked across at Mac. "They were arrested and sentenced to 5 years in Baltimore City Correctional Center, Greenmount Avenue a couple of weeks ago . . . "

Jo's eyes flashed back at Brad. "Yes they're in prison, which means not one of these guys set me up." God. She didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved right now.

Mac massaged his forehead. _**Dammit**_. "Jo?"

She met his intense gaze. _Something's wrong._ "Mac. What is it?" she asked aprehensively.

He gripped the bars. "Jo. There were_** 23**_ guys in the Club that night."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

His name's Ben Ramsay. He got away. The Baltimore P.D are still looking for him."

.

.

_**WE FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, WHY JO HAS THE CASE FILE.**_

_**AND LINDSAY AND ADAM WILL BE SO GLAD TO SEE JO AGAIN.**_

_**WE'LL FIND OUT A LITTLE MORE ABOUT WYATT ROBERTS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AS WELL.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**HEY :)**_

_**I'M SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER HAS TAKEN ME THREE DAYS TO GET UP, BUT THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS ARE OVER IN THE UK, AND I'VE HAD TO GET THEBOY'S ALL READY TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.**_

_**THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REALLY HARD FOR ME TO WRITE. HOPE IT'S OKAY.**_

_**R&R TO LET ME KNOW. **_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

"_I found out these guys were running an illegal Poker Club, so . . . I got out of there."_

_Don stared incredulously at her. "They followed you out of that Club, chased you down an Alley and surrounded you Jo!"_

_'For God sake Jo. This is all in your damn statement.' She sighed inwardly and slowly met Mac's anxious gaze. "I was fine. I'd phoned the Police and they got to me in time."_

_Brad continued to look through the file. "A couple of weeks ago, they were sentenced to five years in Baltimore City Correctional Center, right?"_

_Jo's eyes flashed back at Brad. "Yes. Which means not one of those guys set me up." She didn't know whether she was disappointed or relieved._

_'Dammit!' Mac rubbed at his forehead. "Jo?"_

_She turned back to Mac and knew immediately that something was wrong."What?"_

_Mac gripped the bars, his gaze steady on hers. "There were 23 guys in the Club that night."_

_Her eyes widened._

"_His name's Ben Ramsay. He got away. The Baltimore P.D are still searching for him."_

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 8.**_

.

.

Mac released a long, pent up breath. "Ben Ramsay managed that Poker Club Jo."

Brad quickly grabbed his brief case, pulled out his I Pad and started a search on the database.

Don grabbed the case file from Brad and started flicking through the pages once again.

"My God." Jo crossed her arms tightly around her. "Well. . . He has motive. . ." She stopped mid sentence, frowned and looked back at Mac. "But, Why go to all this trouble to frame me for Marty's murder? Why didn't he just kill me?"

Images of her lying in a pool of blood, dead in the alley down West Franklin Street, tore through Mac's mind, and his heart began to slam, like a jack hammer in his chest. He stilled, Inhaled sharply and held her gaze for another long moment.

Don's eyes shifted to Jo and Mac. He sighed and walked up to them. "Well. If he's our guy, I reckon he's decided he'd rather you suffer in Jail. He wants to ruin your life, the same way, his warped mind is thinking you've ruined his brothers life."

Jo raised her eyebrows.

Mac's eyes flashed to Don. "What?"

Don showed them the list of names. "See that? Conner Ramsay. He was amongst the 22 who were arrested that night." He pulled out another sheet of paper with the D.N.A results on, and met Mac's anxious gaze. " Yea, Conner is Tom Ramsay's brother."

Jo sighed heavily and looked away. "That's just. . . terrific." She frowned again. "Wait." She looked back up at Don. "None of this information was in the Police report."

"How long have you had the case file?" Mac asked her.

"About 10 days."

Don looked back down at it. "This file's been updated since then. A Stan Bellings, one of the guys arrested at the Poker Club decided to help the police with the investigation, in exchange for a lighter sentence. He skipped a few pages and found the Interrogation Report. "Stan told Wyatt that a Ben Ramsay had been at the Club that night. Apparently Ben caught you on the C.C.T.V. He chose half a dozen guys, including Stan, and told them to go after you."

"Dammit. I thought I got passed those camera's." she whispered.

Mac muttered under his breath and shook his head at her. "Obviously you missed one."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Okay Mac. I know." She exhaled deeply. "I was a little . . . reckless that night."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "A little?"

Jo let out a heavy breath and started pacing around the cell.

Don cleared his throat. "Anyway, Stan said, he heard the police sirens whilst they was chasing Jo down the alley. He made a quick call to Ben, to warn him. Ben told Stan he was going to get out of there and take the money." Don glanced back at Jo and Mac. "Stan told Wyatt that Ben was referring to his hundred thousand dollars stashed in his black brief case." Don started to flick through the rest of the case file. "Where's the physical evidence report?"

"It's at the back. P.12." Jo sighed.

Don flicked through to the end of the file. "It's not here."

Jo glanced back at him. "Are you sure?"

Don took another look through the file. "Jo. I'm sure. It's probably sitting under a pile of paperwork back at your office."

She frowned._ I'm sure I put it back in the file._

Brad muttered under his breath. "The Baltimore P.D hardly know anything about Ben Ramsay. They hasn't even got a fixed address on this guy." He brought the details of the Case up on the screen and handed the I Pad to Don. "There's your Physical Evidence report."

Jo moved closer to Don and looked down at the I pad as he scanned the page. Suddenly her heart froze. Her eyes widened. "This isn't it." She whispered.

Mac met her shocked gaze and unease crawled up his spine. "Jo?"

She continued to gaze down at the screen. "There has to be another page."

Mac gazed back at the I pad. "No. This is the only page."

"It can't be. They found ten kilograms of Cocaine at the Poker Club in the office. It was in the side desk, bottom drawer. Where are the photo's?"

Mac grabbed the I Pad from Don and scrolled down. "There are no photo's Jo."

Suddenly, she noticed that something else had been altered on the report and dread tightened her chest. "In this report it says they found $400,000 in a safe, but on the report I had, It was documented as $500.000." Her eyes flashed back at Don. "You have to get back to my office and find that other report." She closed her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead. "My God. I knew something was wrong."

Mac swallowed into a dry throat. "Jo. Are you sure about this?"

She hadn't heard him. She was pacing frantically around the cell now. "Why did I let this go? . . . Why?!"

Brad moved quickly to Don and stared down at the Screen."A missing Evidence Report? That's not good."

Mac continued to gaze into the cell at her. "Jo! look at me!"

She slammed to a stop and whirled around to face him.

Immediately he saw the fear flash in her eyes. "It's gonna be okay. Just calm down."

She moved back to the front of the cell and gripped the bars. "Calm down? How am I suppose to do that?"

"You need to focus now. You need to tell us why you had this case file in the first place. What made you suspect something was wrong?"

She released a long, pent up breath and tried to think. "Okay. I saw Wyatt . . . last Monday. It was about . . . _Oh God. What_ _time was it? _It was 22:00 . . . No. It was . . . 23:00 . . . I think." She saw Mac frown across at her. She looked away and moved on quickly. "He um . . . He was down Frome Street talking to this . . . guy. He started glancing around and I ducked behind a wall." She gazed back at Don, Brad and Mac. "Wyatt looked nervous, on edge. I hung around to find out what he would do next. The two of them chatted for about a minute, and then this guy handed him something. I think it was a small brown package. It was small enough that he could fit it in his pocket anyway. They talked for several more minutes, but I couldn't hear what they were saying and It was too dark to try and lip read." She sighed heavily. "Then Wyatt left the guy and started walking quickly back up the road. I followed him for a block. Then he got in his car and drove away."

She met Mac's concerned gaze. "I had a gut feeling that Wyatt could be doing something illegal, so I checked the Police Database for his most recent Case, The Illegal Gambling Case. But It wasn't on the database, so I went to the Station, sneaked in the back, grabbed the file, photo copied it and got out of there without causing suspicion. Then I went home and checked the case file. It seemed fine, so I looked at Wyatts family history, employment records and the other cases he'd worked. He's had no disciplinary measures against him, no suspensions, no complaints. Nothing. He's totally clean. A couple of days later I found out that he'd been doing some undercover surveillance work and thought, that was what he was doing Monday night. I decided that I'd wasted enough time on this, so I put the Case file at the bottom of my pile and forgot about it." She cursed inwardly. "Why didn't I listen to my gut feeling?"

_My God!_ Mac brought his hands to his hips and started pacing.

Don continued to glance across at her for several seconds. "Jo. What time did you see Wyatt at Frome Street last Monday? Was it 22:00 or 23:00?"

Slowly she looked back at Don. "I. . . I cant remember."

Mac turned back to her and frowned. "You can't remember?"

_Dammit!_ She pushed out a long, resigned breath and leaned back against the wall. "I was . . . on my way out of the bar, when I saw Wyatt."

Mac raised his eyebrows at her.

She crossed her arms tightly around her. "I . . . had a few drinks. My mind was a little fuzzy. . . that night." she murmured.

_Well that's just great!_ "Okay. Well I've got to go and dig up some more on this Ben Ramsay." Brad looked back at Jo. "If Wyatt or anyone else tries interrogating you again, do _**not**_ answer any questions." She didn't answer him. She was just staring at the floor. He let out a heavy breath. God. He just wanted to get her out of here right now. He took his I Pad from Don. "Find that damn report." he muttered angrily.

Don blew out a breath as he watched Brad disappear up the corridor. He turned back to Jo and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. If Wyatt's a crooked cop, we'll find the proof and you'll be out of here very soon."

Slowly she met his gaze, but all she could manage was a nod.

Don looked back at Mac. "Give me your car keys. I'll go wait in the car."

Jo watched him take Mac's keys and dissapear up the corridor.

"Jo."

Hesitantly, she met Mac's intense gaze. "Yea."

"Come here."

Slowly, she walked up to him.

He reached through the bars, pulled her toward him and brought his arms around her. The thought that she'd been here. In Baltimore numbing away the pain with drink, clawed at his heart. My God. She'd been miles away, totally alone. He'd had Don to talk things through with these last few months. He'd had people around him who cared about him. She'd had no one. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry I hurt you." he whispered. "I drove you away and . . ."

She quickly gazed back at him. "Mac. I made the decision to come here and I was wrong to do that. I should have stayed in New York. Running away just made it worse for both of us, so . . . I'm sorry I hurt you too." Suddenly, the fear began to tighten her chest. "Now I might end up staying here for years in a Baltimore prison cell."

"No! That's not going to happen!" Gently, he lifted her face in his hands. "I'm not going to stop searching until I find out who did this to you. I'm not going back to New York without you Jo. . ."

Her eyes widened. "Mac . . ."

". . . And If Wyatt is corrupt. I _**will**_ find the proof to bring him down."

She stepped back, shook her head. "You have to go back to New York. You shouldn't even be here _**now**_. You're head of the C.S.I Department for God sake. They need you back there. Your life is there, everything you've worked for . . ."

Mac reached through the bars, grasped her hand and pulled her back toward him. "My work_** used**_ to be my life, It was all I wanted. All I thought I needed, but things have changed. I've changed." He brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. "You're my life now. You matter more than anything else, and I can't. I won't go back without you. . ." He leaned toward her, his lips now inches from hers. "I love you Jo."

He touched her lips to his and kissed her lightly, but it wasn't long before the kiss deepened between them.

He simply lost himself for a while, in the taste of her. Her mouth was so luscious and wet and giving.

Erotic sensations pummelled through her as he probed her mouth apart and trailed his fingers over her shoulders.

He plunged his tongue inside her mouth and heard the velvet moan ride on her breath as their tongues danced in a lovers dance, sweet, tender, erotic, passionate.

His hands were in her hair, fingers streaming through it, clutching at it and her breath caught as desire dived deep, then surfaced as hunger.

Her body tingled with need, the desires Mac had stirred with that kiss making her ache for more, but resignedly, she pulled away. "You. . . need to go and find. . . that missing report."

Their eyes locked. Mac noticed her dazed look and he smiled. She looked well kissed, her hair tousled, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths. God. He wanted her right now. Wanted to pull those damn bars out of the ground, charge in there, strip her, then plant himself on top of her, inside her, wrap her up in his body. . .

A shadow of a smile crossed her face. "What?"

"I just like the way you look there. All mussed and flushed. Makes me want to muss and flush you some more."

Then he did something that froze her in place and had her heart teetering. He took her hand and tenderly kissed her fingers. For a long immeasurable moment, he said nothing, nothing at all and she stood very still while she tried to swallow her heart back into place.

His smile faded. "But you're right. I need to go." He looked up the corridor then gazed anxiously back at her. "I don't like leaving you here."

"Mac. Just go. I'll be fine."

He sighed heavily. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I will."

She watched him hurry up the corridor, glance back at her for several seconds, then shut the heavy metal doors behind him. Slowly, she leaned back against the bars, her mind racing as she tried to take in everything that had happened. She'd heard it all, with the clarity of a vivid dream, but this was real. What she lived now, was her worst nightmare. She blinked back moisture from her eyes. "I still can't believe it." she whispered shakily.

.

.

As Mac walked through the busy precinct, he looked around for Wyatt. There was no sign of him and he breathed a little easier. He didn't want Wyatt anywhere near Jo right now. He pushed through the main exit into the busy street and glanced around. _Where's Don?_ His eyes flashed across the road to the parking space._ And where's my car?! _He was about to grab his phone, when it started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked Caller I.D. "Don." He growled. He pressed the phone to his ear and raised his voice. "Are you driving my car?!"

Don slowly turned right into Ryder Avenue and looked up the road. "Uh . . . yea, but I couldn't wait for you. Wyatt tore out of the station about 5 minutes ago. He was on the phone to someone and he looked really pissed off. He jumped in his vehicle and sped off at quite a speed. I got curious, so I took off after him . . . in your car."

Dammit! "Well make sure you don't put a scratch on my car!" He rubbed at his forehead and started to pace. "Where are you at the moment?"

"Coming to the end of Ryder Avenue."

Mac raised his eyebrows. "Already?"

Don watched Wyatt suddenly accelerate and tear around the corner onto West Lafayette Street. He muttered a curse, quickly pushed his phone onto the hands free device and slammed down on the gas pedal. "He's driving **very** fast Mac." Don tore around the corner and looked ahead. "I knew it." he muttered.

Mac started pacing along the side walk. "What?"

Don watched him turn down Dukes Street. "Yep. Wyatt's going to Jo's place."

Mac slammed to a stop. "That sonofabitch may have found out Jo had a copy of the case file and he's going back to look for it." He tried flagging down a cab. It shot passed him.

Don saw Wyatt's car screech to a stop outside Jo's Office." How would he have found out? Who could have told him? If one of the other officers had seen it, they'd have taken it straight back to the station, not left it there for _**us**_ to find." He quickly drew behind several parked cars and watched Wyatt jump out of his vehicle and hurry across the side walk toward the property.

Finally a cab stopped for Mac. He dived in and turned to the driver. "53 Mason Street. And step on it." He flashed his badge at him. "I'm a detective, so you have my permission to go fast. Just don't crash into anyone."

The cab driver raised his eye brows. "No problem." He quickly turned back to the front windscreen and slammed down on the gas.

"You're right. None of this makes sense." Mac tightened his grip on the phone. _Ah Crap! _"Don?!"

"Yea."

"You've got to stop him going in there. We can't have him finding that Evidence Report!"

"It's too late Mac." Don let out a long, heavy breath. "He's just shot a bullet through the lock and disappeared inside." He grabbed his gun, dived out of Mac's car and moved quickly up the Side Walk. "I'm gonna get closer. He's still on the phone to someone. I need to listen in on the conversation."

"You're telling me the Police and C.S.I teams have gone already?"

"No ones here. The windows have been boarded up the front door padlocked and barriers around the building, and the place is empty. . . Well . . . apart from me and Wyatt, that is."

Mac stared anxiously out the front windscreen. "I'm still several blocks away. Don. Be careful. We can't let Wyatt discover we know anything about this. We need to find the evidence first."

Don rolled his eyes. "I know Mac." He rounded the building keeping low to the ground, and moved stealthily to her office window. "Don't worry. He wont know I'm here."

.

.

Wyatt charged into Jo's office and started shifted through the paperwork. He swore loudly and gripped his phone tighter. "It's not here! Why the hell didn't you just take it with you?!"

Tom Ramsay rolled his eyes and reached in the fridge for another bottle of beer. "Look. I took the evidence report out and destroyed it! What's your problem?!"

Wyatt dropped the pile back on Jo's desk and glared down the phone. "God You're such a dumb ass, You know that?!" He flicked through the files again. "The problem is, none of the C.S.I team or any of the Police Search Teams have picked this Case File up! I checked the Evidence Storage Room and the Baltimore C.S.I Department and it's not there. So who's got it huh?!"

.

.

Don pushed up against the wall. _My God. He __**is**__ looking for_ _the case file. _He looked back at the window. It was closed. Dammit. There was no point trying to record Wyatts voice. His phone wouldn't pick it up. He pressed his phone back to his ear. "Mac. Wyatt's looking for the Case File." He whispered. "Stay out of sight." He drew the phone away from his ear and tried to pick up more of what Wyatt was saying.

"Don, wait . . ." Mac sighed heavily and glanced quickly up the street. "Okay. Stop here." He said quickly.

The driver screeched the car to a stop and Mac handed him some money and jumped out.

.

.

Tom put his phone on loud speaker then he twisted off the lid, lifted the bottle and swallowed deep.

"Hey dumb ass!" Wyatt shouted.

Tom swallowed some more beer, then he pushed out a long breath, grabbed his phone off the counter and walked into the other room. "What?!"

"Are you sure you put it back in the tray by her desk?" Wyatt asked irritably.

"Yes." He frowned. "Look I still don't get why it matters. I got rid of the evidence report. That was the document you falsified right?!"

Wyatt muttered under his breath. "Yes, you destroyed the Evidence Report, but you should have got rid of the Case File at the same time, you idiot!"

Don closed his eyes, swore and slammed himself back against the wall, with a mixture of rage and fear. His voice and hands shaking with it. "My God. It's gone. The Evidence Report's gone."

Wyatt started to pace around Jo's office. "Now someone's obviously picked up the damn Case File, because it's not here! They'll notice that the Evidence Report's missing and they'll start digging around?!"

Don's mind raced. He knew now, without a doubt that Wyatt fabricated evidence, but they still had no proof yet. And who the hell was Wyatt talking to? Was it Tom Ramsay? If so, when did he get into Jo's office? Did he take the Evidence report last night, after he left the gun and the money in her office? Don swallowed hard. If that was Tom Ramsay on the other line, Wyatt could have worked with him to frame Jo for Marty's murder.

Tom smiled menacingly. "All you need to say if they confront you about it, is that you had no idea the case file was there. Jo Danville could have accidentally thrown it away anyway, right?"

Wyatt sighed heavily and started looking in her side drawers.

Tom heard him still frantically searching and frowned. "Just chill man. They wont find anything."

"Wont They?!" Wyatt snatched up the in tray and threw it across the room in a fit of rage.

Tom rose anxiously from his seat. "You think a certain someone has picked it up. Who?!"

Wyatt signed inwardly. "A Detective Mac Taylor and Detective Don Flack have come down here from New York. They're friends of that bitch!"

Don closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. _God. I hate you Wyatt._

"Actually Mac and her had sex in her second floor apartment last night. She must be a whore too." He spat in disgust.

Don's eyes flew open. It took every ounce of control he had in him, not to dive through the window and punch Wyatt in the face.

Wyatt pressed the phone closer to his ear and started to pace."Luke Walters was walking back up this road a couple of hours ago and he told me he saw two guys coming out of the building. He said he was too far away to recognise them or to tell me whether they were holding a Case File, but I bet it was them." Wyatt swore loudly and kicked the chair into the wall. "I can't even send them back to New York! Chief Matthews says that as long as they don't get involved with the case from now on, they have every right to stay here in Baltimore and see that bitch." Wyatt scanned the room a final time, then headed for the door. "I'm going to look around the rest of the property, just to be sure."

Don heard the office door slam. Quickly he got to his feet and crept around to the back of the building. He saw Wyatt in the kitchen looking around, but he couldn't hear what he was saying from here. He was too far from the window. A few minutes later Wyatt was on the move again. He walked back along the hallway and went upstairs to the second floor. Don muttered a curse and ran back to Mac's car. He'd just got behind the wheel, when he saw Mac sprint around the passenger side, wrench open the car door and dive in.

Mac's eyes flashed back at Don's. "Who was Wyatt talking to on the phone?"

Slowly he met Mac's anxious gaze. "I dunno Mac, but Jo's right. Wyatt fabricated the Evidence."

Mac stared back at him. "My God. Did he find the Evidence report?"

Don sighed heavily and glanced out the side window. "Mac. The Evidence report isn't in there. It's been destroyed." He murmured.

Mac's eyes widened "What?"

"It's gone Mac. I heard Wyatt say to the guy on the other end of the phone. _'Yea, you destroyed the evidence report, but you should have got rid of the case_ _file at the same time.'" _The guy that Wyatt was talking to, broke into Jo's office and took the evidence report out of the Case File. Was it Ben Ramsay? I don't know. Don looked back at Mac. "We were gonna keep this quiet until we had some solid evidence on Wyatt."

"I know, but we have to go to the Chief and tell him that Wyatt hasn't looked at Tom Ramsay as a possible suspect for framing Jo for Marty's murder."

"And do we tell him, that we think Wyatt fabricated evidence on the illegal gambling case?" Don asked. "We have nothing to proove it."

Mac released a long, unsteady breath. "I think we should carry on doing our own little investigation for now. However we have to be very careful we don't withhold evidence. This case is huge." He sighed heavily and looked back down the road at Jo's building. "You have to tell the Chief what you heard Wyatt say on his phone Don. You know that."

Don started the engine. "Yea. I know."

Mac turned and gave him a stern look. "I'm driving."

.

.

_**. . . AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL MAC AND DON ARE GOING TO DO NEXT lol!**_

_**BUT LINDSAY AND ADAM ARE ON THEIR WAY.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**HEY :)**_

_**SORRY ABOUT THE LATE CHAPTER AGAIN. LIFE IS GETTING A LITTLE HECTIC AGAIN!**_

_**IN THIS CHAPTER JO GET'S A LITTLE HURT. ONLY A LITTLE THO LOL!**_.

_**PLEASE R&R :)**_

.

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_Mac released a long, heavy breath. "We **have** to go to the chief and tell him, Wyatt hasn't looked at Tom Ramsay as a possible suspect for framing Jo for Marty's murder."_

"_And do we also tell him, we think Wyatt fabricated evidence on the Illegal Gambling Case?" Don asked._

"_Right now we can't prove that he did." Mac leaned back in his seat. God. This was such a mess. "I cant believe I'm saying this but I think we should carry on with our own little investigation right now." He turned back to Don. "But we can't withold any evidence. This case is huge." He dragged a hand through his hair and glanced back at Jo's building. "You have to tell the chief what you heard Don. You know that."_

_Don turned the ignition and started the engine. "I know." he sighed._

_Mac turned around and gave Don a stern stare. "And I'm driving."_

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 9.**_

.

.

Jo checked her watch. It had been an hour since Mac had left. It felt like forever. God. She was so frustrated. So damn angry. She surged forward and kicked one of the bars so hard, pain shot through her ankle. "Ouch!. . . Dammit!" She hobbled back to the bench and sank down on it. _Okay. I've just got to stay calm. Everything's going to be fine . . ._ Suddenly she heard the sound of the heavy doors swinging open at the end of the corridor. "Mac." She jumped to her feet and moved to the front of the bars. When she saw who was walking toward her rage slammed through her chest and she couldn't help but glare at him.

He came to a stop outside her cell. "Where is it?" he asked in a low, fierce tone.

She swallowed hard as the anxiety tightened her chest, but she continued to keep her eyes steady on his and said nothing.

He slammed his hands on the bars.

Her heart lurched in her throat.

He checked the corridor, then turned back to her and fixed her with a hateful glare. "Tell me where it is _**now**_!" he shouted.

She drew in a steady breath, let it out. "I don't know what your talking about." She answered defiantly.

Fury darkened his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. You've either hidden that Case File, or you told Mac and Don where it was and now they have it, so tell me where it is Jo?!"

His Icy, harsh voice sent a shiver up her spine but her eyes remained on his and she gave him a hate filled look. "How did you know I had the Case File Wyatt?"

Wyatt swore under his breath and pulled out the cell keys from his pocket.

_Oh God!_ She stepped back as he unlocked the cell door and jerked it open. Before she had a chance to say anything, he surged toward her. She tried to duck out of the way, but he reached out and grabbed her arm. "What are you doing!"

Firmly, he pressed his hand over her mouth and with a vicious yank, whirled her around, twisted her arm behind her back and pushed her up against the wall.

She screamed out, but his hand muffled her cries, she tried to get free, but he pressed her harder against the wall, his hand twisting her arm a little more until it hurt so much that she stopped struggling against him.

He brought his mouth to her ear. "Don and Mac have the Case File don't they Jo?"

Jo's heart raced. She shook her head frantically. She felt his hand press harder into her back and she could hardly breathe.

Wyatt leaned closer. "I think you're lying Jo. A few Officers have Informed me that Mac and Don have been snooping around, looking at certain cases I've worked recently."

He squeezed her wrist tighter and she winced in pain.

"I think you've told them I fabricated the report, which means they know too much now."

Jo's heart started to race once again.

"They're not going to stop searching until they find the evidence to Incriminate me, especially Mac, so I'm just gonna have to get rid of them."

Cold fear slid along Jo's spine. _NO! _She jerked back, but before she could get a chance to elbow him in the ribs, his grip had already tightened around her and she could hardly move.

His hand dug into her back and he twisted her arm some more.

She clenched her jaw to keep from screaming.

"It should be quite quick and easy to organise. I know some guys I could hire. They hate Cops, so I won't need to pay them much to get the Job done."

Panic slammed her chest. _"No! You cant do this!" _She screamed out the words but he pressed his hand tighter over her mouth.

"Unless, we can come to some sort of deal." He smiled evilly. "I know. How about you confess to killing Marty Bosch, and I wont hire anyone to kill Mac and Don." He brought his hand away from her mouth and whirled her around to face him. "What do you say Jo?"

Pain rocketed through her arm, as she tried to yank free of his grip. "Are you crazy?!"

Fury ignited in him like a fireball. He tightened his grasp on her wrist and stepped toward her.

She swallowed back the fear and narrowed her eyes at him. She had to get him riled up. Then he would hit her and she could file a complaint against him. "What else have you been doing huh? apart from fabricating evidence, that is."

"Shut up!" he shouted.

"Police Brutality is bound to be one of your many offenses." Suddenly she remembered again the small brown package that he received in the Alley. "Is drug possession another one?"

He released her aching wrist and violently grabbed the front of her shirt with both hands, almost lifting her off her feet. "I don't think you'll do that because you know I have the power and resources to make Mac disappear. . . " He pulled her closer. "For good."

Her eyes widened in terror. "No."

He fisted her shirt tighter. "So what do you say to our deal?"

She tried to pull away from him, but he was gripping her too tightly. She released a shaky breath. "They wont believe I killed Marty. They'll keep searching for the truth and they won't stop until they have it."

"Well. I guess it's down to you then Jo. You'll tell them that you killed Marty and that you lied about me fabricating the evidence."

She raised her voice. "I told you. They won't believe me."

"Then I'll just have to kill them."

Jo's brave facade started to crumble and panic surged through her. "Wyatt. Please don't do this." She pleaded. "You need help!"

Rage darkened his eyes. "What I _**need**_ is an answer." He gazed down at his watch. "I will give you some time to think it over." He let her go, pushed her backwards, and once again, she made heavy contact with the cold, concrete wall behind her.

"I have a few things I have to take care of right now, but I'll come back down here later tonight and take you to the interrogation room." A menacing smile curved his mouth. "I already know that you'll confess to killing Marty Bosch. You'll do anything to protect Mac." He whirled around and walked quickly out of her cell.

"Wyatt!" She pushed away from the wall. "We can fix this mess. We can find another way . . ." she shouted, her voice frantic now.

He chuckled. "God Jo you're so funny."

He slammed the jail cell door shut, locked it, then pinned her with a leering, evil glare, a maddening glare that made her heart thunder. "You're gonna fix this mess remember?" He said in a lethally, calm tone. "And we're gonna do this my way."

She dashed to the front of the cell and grabbed the bars. "Leave them alone!" She cried.

She watched him walk quickly up the corridor. "Wyatt!" She shook the bars frantically. "Please. Don't do this!" He disappeared through the heavy doors, slamming them shut behind him.

She rested her head against the bars and stared down at the floor. "God No! Please just let this be a bad dream." Her heart continued to thunder like a sledgehammer in her chest. She could hardly breath and as hard as she tried she couldn't stop the tears from filling her eyes.

.

.

_**Fifiteen Minutes Later, **_Don and Mac were standing outside the Chiefs Office.

Don scanned the busy room. "Where is he?"

"I don't know. He was here early." Mac took another look around. "I've lost Wyatt again."

"He was near the Vending Machine about ten minutes ago."

Mac glanced back in the office. "The Chiefs probably popped out."

Wyatt came sauntering around the corner. "He has."

Mac cursed inwardly. _There you are, you bent little weasle! _He turned to Wyatt and gave him a hardstare. "We need to see Chief Matthews. Where is he?"

His smile was hard, his eyes bright. "He's out all afternoon at a conference. I'm in charge until he gets back."

Don raised his eye brows at him. "_**You**_ are in charge?"

Wyatt shifted his eyes to his. "Don't be so surprised Don. I've been on the force for well over 20 years and have an _**immaculate**_ record. I'm more than capable of overseeing things here, while the Chief's gone."

_Sonofabitch. _Don stared at him stone faced and silent.

Mac just stood there, his fists clenched at his side, totally livid. He drew in a deep breath, let it out and tried to syay calm. "When is he back?"

"He's back sometime this evening, but doesn't plan on coming in until tomorrow morning. He said I wasn't to call him unless there was a pressing matter that couldn't wait." Wyatts eyes remained steady on his. "Is there Mac?"

"Nevermind. I'll catch him in the morning." Mac replied sternly, enunciating each word through clenched teeth.

Don swore under his breath, spun around and marched away.

Mac shot Wyatt a long, hard glare, then turned and followed Don to the desk in the corner of the room.

Don was now pacing like a wild animal. He whirled around to Mac. "Right about now I'm getting dangerously close to doing something to Wyatt that would net me fifty years to life."

Mac sighed heavily. "Well It might just send me over the edge if _**you**_ ended up behind bars too Don, so for God sake calm down."

Don pushed out a long, weary breath and sunk down in the chair.

Mac dragged his hand through his hair and glanced back at the office. "I was silently hoping the Chief wouldn't be here. If we'd said anything to him, he'd be asking Wyatt about the allegations right now and Wyatt would know we were onto him." He glanced back at Don. "However, I think he already knows we're onto him."

Don leaned his elbow on the desk and rested his head in his hand. "That's bloody great." He muttered angrily.

.

.

Lindsay and Adam swung through the large glass doors and hurried into the precinct.

Adam shifted his eyes around the busy room. "Can you see them?"

She let out a relieved breath and pointed. "There they are."

Lindsay and Adam had been driving along a traffic clogged highway when Don phoned them about an hour ago, and she very nearly ploughed into the car in front of her when he told her he and Mac suspected Wyatt Roberts was a dirty Cop. Her and Adam were so stunned at the news they had to pull over at a gas station and take a ten minute rest break.

.

.

Don caught sight of Lindsay and Adam. "Here they are. . ." he sighed heavily. "And Lindsay looks really freaked out."

Mac looked around and pushed out a long, weary breath.

Lindsay and Adam moved quickly across the floor and came to an abrupt stop in front of them.

"Are you guys okay?" Adam asked anxiously. He glanced around the precinct trying to find Wyatt. "Is he here?"

Mac took a few deep breaths. "It's okay. We're fine. We're just trying to figure out what to do." His gaze turned stern. "Did I tell you two to come down here?"

Lindsay fixed Mac with a deternimed look. "We came to see Jo, but we want to help Mac. You need our help right?"

.

.

Jo paced frantically around the cell as the fear and rage continued to pummel through her system, she forced herself to take some deep breaths. Forced herself to try and think. _Okay. Mac's just going to continue digging around, even if I __**do**__ end up going to prison, he still won't leave me. He won't __accept it. He won't believe that I killed Marty. Neither will Don. My God. I have to warn them._ She looked up at the CCTV Camera, then glanced around her cell. _Could Wyatt have bugged this place before he_ _chucked me in here? _

She spent the next couple of minutes checking around the bench and inspecting every tiny crack in the wall for a bug, but found none. She swallowed hard and gazed out into the corridor. He could have hid several in the empty cell opposite, or under the three chairs that were down the left side of the corridor, not more than ten feet from her. Fresh tears filled her eyes and a low, raw ache clawed it's way through her heart. _I need to get Mac and Don out of Baltimore. How the hell am I going to persuade them to leave? _

Suddenly she heard the heavy doors swing open and for a split second she thought Wyatt was coming back, but through the fear, she somehow managed to focus and soon realised that the footsteps didn't belong to Wyatt at all. She swiped the tears from her cheeks and moved quickly toward the front of the cell.

Lindsay quickened her pace toward her. "Jo!" She ran to the cell, reached through the bars and gripped her hand. "I've missed you so much."

Mac walked down the stairs and through into the corridor. He saw Jo hugging Lindsay and he smiled inwardly. Deep down, he was glad her and Adam had come down to Baltimore. It would be good for Jo to see them. He hung back for a moment and checked his phone for messages.

Tangled emotions slammed through Jo's heart. First came the relief. Thank God, that was Lindsay walking up the corridor toward her, and not Wyatt.

It was closely replaced by an overwhelming happiness at seeing her again. "Lindsay!" Jo reached through the cell and hugged her between the the bars. God It's so good to see you. She pulled away quickly. "Is Danny here?"

Lindsay's smile faded. "No he needed to keep things running smoothly back at the Department."

Mac rolled his eyes. _He better be running things smoothly back at the Department._

Jo tried to hide her disappointment. "Of course he is. I wasn't . . . thinking."

"Adam came with me though."

Jo's eyes brightened. "Did he?"

"Yea. He's with Mac and Don upstairs. They'll be coming down here when Mac's finished on the phone to Brad."

That's when the fear and panic swept through Jo, hitting her so hard, she became paralysed for several seconds._ Oh God. Lindsay and Adam can't be here. Wyatt will come after them too. _

Lindsay saw the fear flicker in Jo's eyes and she gripped her hand tighter. "It's going to be okay Jo. Adam and I are sticking around. We'll help Mac and Don bring Wyatt Roberts down." She assured her.

Mac tore his eyes from his phone and glanced quickly down the corridor at Jo. He frowned in concern when he noticed the fear in her expression. He pushed his phone back in his pocket and started to walk quietly down the corridor toward her.

Jo's mind raced. _Okay. So I know there's no bugs in this cell._ She looked back out in the corridor at the three lined up chairs._ I'm just gonna have to risk it. I can't just_ _stand here and say nothing. _Her eyes flashed back at Lindsay's. "Lindsay?" She pulled away from her and stepped back. "You can't stay here . . . you have to leave. . . You all have to . . . go back to New York."

Unease crawled up Lindsay's spine. _Why is she suddenly speaking so quietly._ "Jo. We're not going to leave you. We're going to find out . . ."

Jo cut her off quickly and shook her head frantically. She moved back toward her. "Lindsay. I need you and Adam to get Mac and Don out of here." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Why?" Lindsay asked anxiously.

"I can't tell you." She answered quickly.

Mac heard Don and Adam walk up behind him. He whirled around and signalled for them to stay silent.

Lindsay's eyes widened. "Jo you're scaring me."

Jo tried a reassuring smile. "It's okay."

Slowly Lindsay looked up at the CCTV Camera.

Jo's eyes widened. "_**Don't**_ look at the camera."

Lindsay's eyes flashed fearfully back at her's "You _**have**_ to tell me what's going on?"

Jo swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I . . . I can't. Look. I have to . . . deal with this one on my own."

Suddenly she heard footsteps. She whirled around and saw Mac, Don and Adam staring right at her, looking more than a little confused. Dread tightened her chest. "Oh God." She whispered.

Fear speared through Mac's heart. _Bugs? In here? _He tore his gaze from Jo and shifted his eyes to the camera in her cell. Slowly he walked several feet to the left, so it couldn't pick him up, then signalled for Don and Adam to join him.

Jo and Lindsay watched anxiously as the three guys checked the corridor for bugs, trying to stay out of sight of the other eight CCTV Camera's as they went. Several moments later Mac signalled the all clear. He looked anxiously back at Jo and pointed into her cell.

She sighed heavily. "It's clear."

Adam pushed out a long, relieved breath. "That's good." He walked up to her. "Hey. I missed you."

She moved back to the bars and a shadow of a smile crossed her face. "God. I missed you too."

He pulled a small packet from his pocket. "Here." He threw it through the bars and she caught it. She raised her eyebrows. "It's putty. All you need to do is roll it into a ball." He looked into the cell and noticed a black mark on the wall. "and slam it against the wall, right where that black mark is. That's Wyatt's face. . ."

Jo took a sharp intake of breath at the sound of Wyatt's name."

Adam continued oblivious to her reaction, but Mac noticed Immediately. He watched her shiver ever so slightly, then wrap her arms tightly around herself and squeeze the putty hard.

". . . Catch it. Repeat and . . ." Adam stopped dead in his tracks when he felt Mac push passed him.

Keeping half an eye on the camera, Mac slammed to a stop and shifted his eyes back at her. "What the hell is going on Jo?"

Slowly she met his intense gaze. "Nothing. I just. . . I don't want you guys getting involved in this. That's all."

His gaze remained steady on hers. She glanced away quickly.

Don closed his eyes and leaned back against the cell opposite hers. _Ah crap._

Cold fear surged through Mac. He jammed his hands in his pockets and forced himself to take a steady breath. "You're lying."

Jo faked shock. "I am _**not**_ lying."

Lindsay sighed heavily and sat down in one of the chairs.

Mac didn't take his eyes off Jo. "You said to Lindsay, you needed her and Adam to get me and Don out of Baltimore. Why?"

Jo's eyes widened. _He'd heard that?_ She tore her gaze from Mac and caught Don watching her with concerned eyes.

She opened her mouth, shut it. She dragged her hand over her face, her pulse still thrumming with the cadence of fear. "Okay. Yes . . . I am lying. I did it. . . I killed Marty Bosch. It was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. Wyatt didn't fabricate any evidence. I was just . . . trying to . . ." . . . _frame him? My God. This sounds absolutely ridiculous._ Slowly, she looked up and searched their faces. They weren't buying this for one second. Tears welled in her eyes. "Look. You saw my gun! You saw the money. I did it! And you think Wyatt's guilty, but you've got it wrong. I just. . . threw that evidence report away and . . ." She swallowed back a wave of nausea. _My God. What am_ _I doing? I can't let Wyatt walk away from this. I swore an oath to uphold the law._ Rage ignited and swept through her like wild fire. She lifted the putty in her hand and threw it hard across the room, where it slammed dead centre into the black mark on the wall. She released a long, pent up breath and risked a quick glance at Mac. Her breath stalled in her chest when she saw fury and fear in his eyes.

Before she had time to process what was happening, he'd reached through the bars and gently gripped her hand. She followed his gaze and she saw the red, raw marks across her wrist. She froze.

Don's eyes widened. "My God. Jo?"

Lindsay sat bolt upright in her seat and anxiously gazed across at her.

Adam just stood there Dumbstruck.

Swearing under his breath, Mac carefully, but quickly pulled up her sleeve. His heart lurched in his throat when he saw the red bruising and nail marks up her arm. "Goddam it!" he swore again, looking down on her with a mixture of rage and shock. "Jo?"

"It's okay. It's . . . nothing."

His eyes flashed back at hers. "Jo look at me." He was amazed at the calm in his voice. He felt as revved as a rocket inside.

She hesitated, then met his gaze.

"Wyatt did this to you didn't he?"

Jo swallowed hard and steadied herself. "Yes."

Pure, focused anger slammed through Don's chest, and he had to physically restrain himself from pounding his fists into the hard concrete wall beside him.

Lindsay shook her head in disbelief.

Adam dragged his hand through his hair and cursed inwardly.

Mac scanned her body. "Did he hurt you anywhere else."

"No. It was just my arm. . . and . . . shoulder blade." She said quietly.

"He moved her arm and noticed her wince slightly."

"What did he do?"

"Mac. I don't want to talk about this right now."

Mac raised his voice slightly. "Tell me Jo!"

She sighed heavily and stared at the ground. "He let himself into the cell and . . . I couldn't get out of his way. He . . . grabbed me, twisted my arm behind my back and pushed me against the wall.

Mac closed his eyes and rubbed his hand across his face. _I'm gonna kill him._

He wanted to know where the Case File was. I asked him how he knew I had it? He got a . . . little rough and said . . ." She swallowed into an aching throat. "He said you and Don knew too much now and he was going to hire a group of Hit Men to come after you. . ."

Don narrowed his eyes at the wall. "That Sonofabitch."He whispered.

A stray tear rolled down Jo's cheek. "Unless. . . I confess to killing Marty Bosch." She met his shocked gaze. "Please. Just get out of Baltimore and get on with your life Mac."

Something very nearly like tears filled his own eyes. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her. "No. You're my life now. I told you that." He said quietly.

"Mac please. I need to know you're safe."

I'm not leaving. And no hit man's gonna kill _**me**_ Jo."

"Me neither." Don replied quietly.

"He won't get a bullet in me. I'm too fast." Adam added.

Lindsay glanced back at him. "I'm fast. _**And**_ I'm a good shot."

Adam scowled across at her.

"Don't worry. I'll cover you butt." She sighed.

Quickly, Mac and Jo's eyes flashed across at all three of them.

They were all fixing Mac and Jo with a stubborn, determined expression on their faces.

"We're staying." Lindsay replied Adamantly.

Mac sighed inwardly. "He didn't want to fight with them right now. All he wanted to do was beat Wyatt half to death. He pushed out a deep, heavy breath and wrapped her up in his arms. Then he simply held her for a long immeasurable moment. . . to keep himself from falling apart.

Lindsay and Adam tore their eyes from Mac and Jo and exchanged knowing glaces with Don.

He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at them..

.

.

_**THINGS REALLY START TO BUILD UP FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER ONWARDS.**_

The silence seemed to stretch out to an unbearable length


	10. Chapter 10

_**HEY :) HOPE U R ALL WELL!**_

_**SO HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER.**_

_**HOPE YOU LIKE IT. :)**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**What Happened At The End Of The Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

"_Mac. Please. I need all of you to go back to Baltimore. I need to know that you're safe." Jo pleaded._

"_No hit man's going to kill me Jo. I'm not going back without you." Mac answered softly._

"_Me neither." Don replied._

"_They won't get a bullet in me. I'm too fast." Adam added._

_Lindsay glanced around to him. "Well. I'm a fast runner, **and** a good shot."_

_Adam scowled at her._

_Lindsay smiled. "Don't worry. I'll safe your butt."_

_They turned back to Jo and Mac and found them staring back at them, with that serious look on their faces._

"_We're staying." Lindsay said adamantly._

_Mac sighed. "He didn't want to fight with them right now. All he wanted to do was get hold of Wyatt and slam his fist in his face. He turned back to Jo and simply held her. . . to keep from falling apart._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 10.**_

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.

Brad pulled open the heavy doors and quickened his pace down the corridor. "Jo."

She pulled away from Mac and looked up.

Brad moved quickly toward her cell and came to an abrupt stop. "Wyatt's walking around up there saying you lashed out at him."

Her Jaw dropped. She was so stunned she couldn't speak.

Rage tore through Mac. "He's covering his back. That sonofabitch."

Brad tore his eyes from Mac and glanced anxiously back at her. "What the hell happened?"

Jo pushed out a long, pent up breath and looked away.

Don sighed heavily. "Jo. Brad's your Defence Lawyer. Just show him."

She stared across at Don with an exasperated look on her face. "Okay fine." She yanked up her sleeve and lifted her arm. Brads color deepened on his face and in fascination she watched a vein throb at his temple

"Okay. I've heard another about this Wyatt Roberts, and now I've seen enough." Brad turned angrily to Mac and Don. "Now for God sake tell me you've found something on this Jerk."

Don spent the next few minutes telling Brad how he'd followed Wyatt to Jo's office and what he'd heard Wyatt say down his cell phone.

When Don had finished speaking, Brad stood there stock still for several seconds, his eyebrows raised. "You recorded what he said right?"

Don pushed out a long breath. "No."

"What? . . .Why?" Brad answered angrily.

"Brad. The window was closed. My phone wouldn't have picked his voice up."

Brad sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. "Okay. Look we know now, that he fabricated the evidence on the Illegal Gambling Case. . ."

Lindsay jumped out of her seat and stared back at Jo. "And now Jo can file a complaint against him. We need to take some photo's of her arm."

Brad sighed. "Yes we do, but I don't think that's gonna help Jo right now. Not until we've got more on him."

Mac frowned. "Why the hell not? And what about the CCTV Camera. It would have picked this up. Gezus. I've got to go and find that now." He turned to Jo. "I wont be a minute." He started to move off.

Brad grabbed his arm. "Don't bother. I've just checked. Wyatt asked Spencer Price to stop running the cameras and carry out a check on the system this afternoon." he looked back at Jo. "What time did Wyatt come down here?"

"It was around 15:00." She replied.

Brad muttered under his breath. "The camera's were off for a couple of hours. They weren't up and running again until 15:30."

_Dammit!_ Jo crossed her arms and started pacing again.

"Did you hit Wyatt in the ribs to try and get away from him?"

"Unfortunately not." she replied dryly. Suddenly she slammed to a stop. _Oh God. _Quickly she turned back to him, her mind racing. Why?"

"Because after I overheard him tell a few officers what had happened down here, he went into the Chiefs Office and put on a good show."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Me, along with most of the Cops in the room saw his heavily bandaged ribs as he changed into a clean shirt."

She stared from Brad to Mac in disbelief. "But I . . .I didn't touch him." She surged toward the front of the cell and grabbed the bars, You have to believe me. . . I didn't hit him."

Mac closed his hands around hers. "Of course we believe you. . ."

Jo forced herself to take several deep breaths and tried to calm down.

_Mac continued. _"We'll get Wyatt at 23:00 tonight, He'll come down here and we'll record everything." He glanced back at Brad. "In the mean time, we're not stopping until we find some hard evidence on the illegal activities he's been up to. I want Wyatt Roberts sentenced to life." He muttered angrily.

She pulled away from him. "Mac. Please don't go digging around. It's not safe."

Adam moved toward her. "Don't worry. We'll be fine." He turned to Mac. "Lindsay and I can go upstairs. Take a look around . . ."

Jo jumped in quickly. "Remember Paul White. Worked for the NYPD for 15 years? And for eight of them he committed various illegal activities? Racketeering, extortion, narcotics, obstruction of Justice, _**Murder **_. . .?"

Mac sighed heavily. "Jo . . ."

"He knew many mobsters Mac." She interrupted. ". . . and sent a group of them out to kill several Officers when he'd heard that they'd discovered, he'd been stealing drugs and reselling them to Drug Lords in the area. It took the Law Enforcement Agencies two years to find the evidence they needed to arrest him. You can't do this. You're gonna get yourselves killed."

He stared back at her for several seconds, then cursed inwardly and turned to Lindsay. "You two, go and find out everything you can on Tony Lockhurst. He's Wyatt's Partner. Don and I don't think he knows what Wyatt's been up to, but we have to be sure. It looks like he's beginning to get suspicious of Wyatt. I saw him get the Illegal Gambling Case out of the file earlier and start looking at it with two other Detectives, the minute Wyatt walked out of the room."

"We'll be careful Mac." Lindsay assured him.

"Make sure you are." He replied in a stern voice.

Lindsay sighed inwardly.

Adam nodded resignedly at Mac.

She gazed back at Jo. "It's going to be okay. We _**will**_ get him." She stepped toward her and placed her hand on Jo's shoulder. "I'll see you later."

Jo watched her start back up the corridor with Adam. "No! Lindsay, Adam wait!" Fear and despair clawed through her heart. "Just go back home now!" She shouted. They didn't turn back. She slammed at the bars and stared angrily at Mac. "Why did you let them stay!"

"If I decide it's getting too dangerous. I'll send them home." Mac saw the fear flickering in her eyes. Gently he grasped her shoulders. "Wyatt Roberts isn't another Paul White Jo. Paul White got mixed up in the Gambini Mafia family."

"And what makes you so sure that Wyatt hasn't Mac? He knows some bad people out there."

"We can handle a few measly mobsters Jo."

She shook her head exasperatedly at him and pushed his hands off her shoulders. "Fine. Knock yourselves out."

Mac sighed inwardly. _Dammit._ "Jo. Don't be mad at me."

She walked back to the bench, collapsed onto it and slammed the putty against the wall.

"Jo." He watched her for several seconds as she continued to throw the putty. Great! She was ignoring him.

He released a heavy breath and shifted his eyes to Don.

Don gave him a 'Well don't look at me.' look and glanced across at Brad.

Mac rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

Don turned back to Brad. "Did you find anything on Tom Ramsay?"

Brad jammed his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall."Well . . . He grew up in Los Angeles. He had a clean record. Then he moved to Baltimore on April 1992, but he's only been arrested for a couple of minor offences. Drunk and disorderly. . ." Brad brought out a black pad and checked his notes. "That was 19th June 1993. And then he was up for a minor assault charge 10th November 1994." He closed the pad and pushed it back in his pocket. "The Police heard nothing from him after that, not until now, that is" Brad grabbed his Brief Case from the chair, unlocked it and brought out the file on Jo's case. "I've been down to the D. A's Office. He's reviewed the facts and evidence on your Case Jo."

She caught the putty and slowly met Brads gaze.

"He's not going to approve the charges until he gets the third copy of the C.S.I Report."

Don frowned. "He hasn't got it?"

Mac swore under his breath and snatched the file out of Brads hand. "What one are we talking about?"

"The D.A is happy with the Crime Scene Analysis Sheet, and the Report documenting the Evidence found in Jo's office. But as you all know there has to be another more thorough search carried out on Jo's whole building, and the report for_** that**_ search, isn't in here.

Jo closed her eyes and leaned her head in her hands. "My God." She whispered.

Brad looked back at the file and pushed out a long, long breath. "The D.A talked to Wyatt over the phone. "Wyatt told him, the whole of Jo's property _**had**_ been searched, but they hadn't finished writing the report up yet. Wyatt said he'd get it to him tomorrow."

"No doubt, he needed that extra time to plant more evidence in my damn building." She said between gritted teeth.

.

.

"Do you see Tony Lockhurst?" Adam asked, pretending he was busy on his phone.

"Yea. He's in the corner of the room staring right at us." Lindsay looked back at Adam. "I don't see rage or guilt in his eyes. I see confusion. I see someone who feels like they're stuck between a rock and a hard place right now."

Adam shifted his eyes back at her. "He's looking around, not sure what to do next." He pushed his phone back in his pocket. "I'm gonna try and get him to talk to me."

Her eyes flashed to Adam. "We cant do that yet. We need to be sure he's not working with Wyatt?"

"I'm sure."

"How sure?"

Adam sighed heavily. "Sure enough."

"Adam we need to be 100% sure."

"Lindsay. Jo's running out of time." Adam whirled around and walked quickly away.

"Adam!" Lindsay tried to grab him, but he was too fast. "Get back here. . . Dammit." She muttered under her breath and watched anxiously as he circled around the crowded room and started toward Tony.

Adam inched his way around the two desks and around another group of officers. He glanced back. No one was looking his way, so he increased his pace and brushed passed Tony. "We need to talk about Wyatt Roberts. Meet me down Geyser street."

Lindsay looked away quickly. _My God. He's actually done it._ She released a long, pent up breath and moved quickly toward the main exit.

Careful not to draw attention to himself, Tony stayed rooted to the spot and waited, as he watched Adam walked out of the room to the main exit.

Lindsay moved swiftly into the hallway and glanced around her. She got lucky. There was no one milling around, so she was able to duck around the corner without being seen. Several seconds later Adam walked passed her and disappeared out of the precinct. She stayed there for another couple of minutes, before she saw Tony appear, quickening his pace as he moved across the hallway and out of the building after Adam.

She dashed out from the corner of the hallway, but was stopped at the door, when five Officers came flying through, dragging three violent drunks with them. She didn't wait but trying to push through these guys was slowed her up considerably. Finally she got out of the building and hurried down the steps. Her eyes darted up and down the side walk. Her heart raced. _Oh God No. I've lost_ _Adam._

.

.

Tony walked for about 50 feet and turned down Raynor Road. A couple of minutes later, he hurried across the road and slowed his pace as he approached Geyser Street. He came to a stop and peeked down the narrow road.

Adam was pacing around, waiting.

Tony noticed that this guy wasn't carrying a weapon. He scanned the perimeter and slowly, put his gun back in his holster, then turned into Geyser Street and started to walk toward him. "Who the hell are you?"

Adam whirled around and glanced back at him. "I'm Adam Ross. I work at the C.S.I Department in Manhattan."

_Dammit! I knew I should have just stayed at the damn station._ "Okay, So what do you want?"

Adam walked up to him. "We know about Wyatt Roberts."

Tony stared across at him for several seconds. "What do you know?" he asked cautiously

"We know he fabricated evidence on the Illegal Gambling Case."

He drew in a deep breath, let it out. "Okay. Just because we've got some information missing, does not mean Wyatt fabricated evidence."

Adam held his gaze for several seconds. "That's what you want to believe isn't it?"

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "Wyatt's been on the force for years. He's got a clean record. I'm not talking about this any more." He turned and started to walk away.

Adam raised his voice. "We also know he was involved in framing Jo Danville for Martys murder. Detective Don Flack overheard him on the phone when he was trying to find the Original Evidence Report."

Tony came to an abrupt stop and slowly turned back to Adam. "What Original Evidence Report?"

"Jo saw Wyatt last Monday, late in the evening. What he was up to looked suspicious to her, so the next day, she sneaked into the precinct and took a copy of his latest case file, the illegal gambling case. She looked through it, but everything seemed fine. So she went and asked Wyatt, what he was up to that night. He told her he was working undercover on an assignment, so she thought that explained why he was handing a guy a black briefcase and receiving a brown package . . ." Adam stopped mid sentence. Wyatt was staring wide eyed back at him. "What is it?"

Tony swallowed hard. "I don't know what your talking about." He swore under his breath and turned back to him. "I've only been working here for a month." He started to pace. "You got any proof to back this up?"

"No. But we're gonna find it."

Anxiously Tony scanned the area, then brought out a slip of paper. "If you're going to be crazy enough to pursue this, you need to find this guy."

Adam took the small scrap of paper from his hand and looked down at it. "It's a name." He glanced quickly back at him. "Who's George Brooks?"

"Wyatt's previous partner. A couple of months ago George handed in his resignation and just disappeared. No one's heard from him since. Wyatt's saying he doesn't know where he is." He took another look around. Then stared sternly back at Adam. "Do _**not**_ approach me again."

Adam watched Tony take off out of Geyser Street at a steady jog. He sighed inwardly and hung around for a couple of minutes staring down at the scrap of paper in his hand before slipping it in his pocket and headed back to the station.

.

.

Lindsay saw Tony Jogging up the side walk and quickly disappeared inside a café. When he passed by, she ran back out and watched him head back into the Station. _Oh God._ _Adam where are you? _Anxiety slammed her chest as she started to weave her way through the crowds. She came to Raynor Road on her right and was just about to cross it, when she saw Adam walking up the road toward her. Relief washed over her. She felt like she was going to collapse like a wet sponge. She ran up to him and punched him on the arm.

"Ouch. What was that for?"

Lindsay stared angrily at him. "That was for being an idiot. My God Adam. What were you thinking?"

"Hey. It's okay. Take a deep breath. Relax. Mac was right and so were we. I'm almost 100% certain now, that Tony has not joined the dark side of the force." Adam smiled, as he pretended to wave a light saber in his hand.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and pulled him back down the road, out of the crowds, "Just tell me what happened?" she asked dryly.

Adam pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. "We need to find this guy. George Brooks."

A smile spread across her face. "Adam. You got us a lead."

Adam grinned back at her. "I know."

.

.

_**Ten minutes Later, **_Mac wrenched open the back door. "Get in there and stay there until I tell you to move." he said sternly.

"But I got us a . . ."

"Adam. I don't want to hear it!" He interrupted angrily. "Now get in the car!" He watched Adam slide into the back seat with a glum look on his face. Mac muttered under his breath and slammed the door behind him.

Lindsay got in the back with Adam, and Don jumped in the passenger side.

Mac got behind the wheel and started the engine.

Don gazed across at Mac. "He _**did**_ get us a lead."

Mac sighed heavily. _For God sake. _He tossed Don a stern glare.

Don sighed inwardly and turned his head back at Adam. "No questioning possible suspects **_or_** witnesses Adam. You're Job title isn't 'Detective Adam Ross.'"

Lindsay stifled a grin.

Adam scowled back at Don.

Don smiled and gazed back at the I Pad in his lap. "Okay. So we'll go to George Brooks previous Address. 52 West Lafayette Avenue and ask around the neighborhood. See if any of the neighbors knew where he disappeared to." Don glanced back at Mac and saw him gazing across the road at the station. He released a heavy breath. "She's gonna be okay. Brads staying with her."

"I know. . . I know." Mac sighed. "I just hate leaving her in there."

Don leaned his elbow on the side door and rubbed at his forehead. "Me too."

Mac pushed out a breath, shifted the car into gear and accelerated up the road.

A Black Van rolled around the corner and followed them from a distance.

.

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_**I'M THINKING THE ACTION MAY START IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, IF NOT IT WILL BE THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER. I'M MAKING THIS STORY UP AS I GO ALONG. LOL! SO I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT I'M WRITING FROM ONE CHAPTER TO THE NEXT.**_

_**OH, BUT I JUST REMEMBERED TO SAY. I WILL BE REVEALING WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING ON IN BALTIMORE P.D . . . . MAY BE INTRODUCING SEVERAL NEW CHARACTERS. SOME THAT ARE WORKING WITH BRAD. . . . SOME THAT ARE TRYING TO FIND EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM. **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**HEY :)**_

_**ACTION PACKED CHAPTER THIS ONE. AND IT'S PRETTY LONG!**_

_**I LOVED WRITING IT LOL!**_

_**THANKYOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS :D**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_Don glanced back at the I Pad in his lap. "Okay, so we'll go back to George Brooks previous address 52 West Fayette Avenue and ask around the neighborhood. Hopefully someone can tell us where he disappeared to." He looked around to Mac and saw him gazing across the road at the station. "Mac. She's going to be okay. Brad's with her."_

_Lindsay exchanged glances with Adam and exhaled deeply._

"_I know." Mac sighed. "I just hate to leave her here."_

_Don leaned his window on the side door and rubbed his forehead. "Me too."_

_Mac pushed out a long breath, shifted the car into gear and accelerated up the road._

_A black van rolled around the corner and followed them from a distance._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 11.**_

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.

Mac drew the car up along the side walk and turned back to Adam. "Okay. You stay _**here**_."

Adam sighed inwardly. "Mac I can help . . ."

"Yes you can." He interrupted. "By keeping a look out. If you see anyone suspicious hanging around, call me on your phone." Mac gave him a stern look. "Do _**not**_ get out of the car Adam."

Adam blew out a long breath. "Fine." he murmured.

Don scanned the area and turned back to Mac. "Let's go."

The three of them jumped out of the Avalanche and and walked up the front path to George Brooks house.

Mac looked through the window and sighed. "The place is empty."

"The neighbors in."

Don walked up to Lindsay and took a look at the house next door.

"I saw the curtain twitch upstairs. Right window." She said.

"A Bill Westwood lives there. Let's go see if he knows anything." Mac suggested.

They clambered over the wooden fence and walked up to the house. Don had to knock several times before he opened the door.

Bill kept the door on the latch and stared suspiciously through the gap at them. "Can I help you?"

Mac pulled his badge out of his pocket and showed it to Bill. "We're from the . . ." Before Mac could say another word, Bill slammed the door in his face.

Shakily Bill locked the front door, then he ran to the back of the house and raced into the garden.

Don muttered a curse. "He's scared of the damn Police? That's not a good sign."

"C'mon!" Mac jumped the fence and charged around to the back with Don and Lindsay on his heels.

Bill grabbed his motorbike and dragged it out of the shed.

Mac. Don and Lindsay slammed to a stop and pointed their weapons at him.

"Drop the Bike Bill!" Don shouted. "Hands above your head and turn around very slowly!"

Bill cursed inwardly and in anger pushed his bike to the ground. He turned and glared back at them. "I've told you lot, I don't know where he is!"

Lindsay gazed across at him. _Wyatt's been here._

Mac noticed the fear flicker in his eyes. He sighed heavily and looked around. Then he put his gun back in his holster and turned back to Bill. "Look. We're not from Baltimore P.D. We've come from Manhattan. Let's go inside and have a chat, okay?"

Bill stared across at Mac for a long moment, then looked across at Lindsay and Don. He pushed out a long, pent up breath. "Okay fine." he muttered.

Don and Lindsay placed their guns in their holsters and followed Mac and Bill back into the house.

Don and Mac sat down with Bill in the kitchen, while Lindsay stepped discreetly into the lounge to take a look around.

Don leaned his elbows on the table and glanced back at him. "Bill. If you know where George Brooks is, you need to tell us now."

Bill leaned back in his seat and held Don's gaze. "Why?"

"Because he may have vital information that can stop an Innocent person from going to Prison."

_Ah Crap!_ Bill swallowed hard and tried to think. "I. . . I don't know where he is." he said finally.

Mac muttered under his breath and leaned toward him. "I think you do know where he is, but you're protecting him aren't you?"

Bill froze to the spot and stared nervously back at Mac.

Mac continued. "That's very noble of you Bill, but you alone can't protect him now. that vital information that he's carrying around is putting his life in extreme danger. We need to know where he is so we can get him to safety and get these bad guys behind bars. . ."

Bill got quickly to his feet and glared down at Mac and Don. "And who _**are**_ the bad guys huh?"

Mac and Don exchanged knowing glances.

Don turned back to Bill. "You've had a visit from Detective Wyatt Roberts right?"

"Yea I have." Bill answered hesitantly.

"Bill. We believe that Detective Wyatt Roberts has been committing various criminal activities, and the only person who we think, may have the evidence to take him down is George Brooks. Wyatt knows we're onto him. He knows we're going to try and find George. If they get to George before us they're gonna kill him, so if you know where he is, You have to tell us right now."

.

.

Adam glanced in the rear-view mirror and caught sight of a black Van at the end of the road. Adam continued to watch it. After several minutes, it started to move forward, turned into West Fayette Avenue, and cruised slowly up the road toward him. His eyes widened. "Ah Shit."

.

.

Bill dragged his hands through his hair and started pacing anxiously around the kitchen. "He told me not to talk to anyone about this, especially not the Police."

"We're not the bad guys Bill. You have to trust us." Don replied.

He continued to stare across at Don and Mac and stayed silent.

Mac released a long, heavy breath. "Bill. Someone I care about very much is caught up in all of this and I know you care a lot about George too. We need to help them."

Bill swallowed hard. "I've known George since high school. We're like brothers." He gazed back at Mac. "How did your friend get caught up in all this?"

Mac sighed inwardly. "She witnessed Wyatt taking a small brown packet from someone last Monday night. She got suspicious and . . ." Mac stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Bills jaw drop, his face turning as white as a sheet. Slowly Mac rose from his seat. "What is it?"

"Your friend's Jo? . . . Jo Danville?"

Mac's heart raced. "How the hell do you know that."

Don quickly got to his feet. "Bill?"

Lindsay shot into the kitchen and gazed across at Bill, the unease crawling up her spine.

Bills eyes shifted anxiously at all three of them. "George was tracking Wyatt that night. He saw Wyatt take the brown package too. George has seen him do this several times in the last six months. He thinks Wyatt's stealing drugs and selling them to the drug dealers around the area. He's taken photo's."

Mac cursed inwardly and started to pace. "Why didn't he come forward with the photo's?"

"He said he needed more evidence. That it wasn't enough to take Wyatt Roberts down. Did you know he's got an outstanding record of solving cases and no disciplinary action has been taken against him in all his years with the Police Force?"

Lindsay released out a long, resigned breath. "Yea. We know."

Bill sighed heavily and started to pace. "Any way, George noticed Jo up the next alley and knew she had also witnessed the incident." Bill gazed anxiously back at Mac. "George likes Jo. He told me he could only trust her, but he didn't approach her about any of this. He said he didn't want Jo to get involved in this mess. Do you know where she is?"

Mac tried to take a deep breath. Tried to calm down. "She's in a cell at the Police Station."

Bills eyes widened. "My God? How the hell . . ."

Mac moved around the table toward him. "We're running out of time. Where is he Bill?"

Bill released a shaky breath. "He's rented a place at Riverside, down at Winans Cove."

A wave of relief swept through Don. "That's good. Now we need you to stay here. . . ."

"No. I'm coming with you."

"We're not taking you with us. It's too dangerous." Suddenly Mac's phone started ringing in his pocket. He brought it out and checked caller I.D. "Adam?"

Adam looked down the road. _Ah crap! _"Mac we've got company. A black Van's drawn up about 50 Metres down the road and. . ." He glanced quickly back out the rear-view mirror and swore under his breath. "They're jumping out of the Van and heading this way."

Bill was standing close enough to Mac and he caught what Adam had said on the other end of the phone. Fear slammed through his chest. He turned quickly ran across the kitchen and crashed through the back door.

"Bill! Don't go out there!" Don swore loudly, jumped out of the seat and tore off after him.

Bill grabbed his motor bike, slammed down on the pedal and sped off up his back garden."

Don came skidding to a stop."Wyatt wait!" He watched the motorbike crash through the hedge and roar off down the long narrow road. "Dammit!" He turned and jogged back to Mac, who was now standing on the back steps shaking his head exasperatedly.

Mac tightened his grip on his phone. "Okay . . . Just get out of that road now Adam!"

Adam jammed his phone on the hands free device and jumped in the front seat, then he started the engine and sped off down the road. His eyes flashed back at the rear mirror. "Mac. You need to get out of there! Two guys have jumped out the van and they're running to the house! I'll pick you up round the back!"

"Dammit!" Mac spun around. "Lindsay! Lets go!" She ran out of the house and the three of them dashed across the back garden.

Suddenly the sound of weapon fire erupted around Adam and several bullets shattered the back windscreen. Adam ducked and nearly lost control of the car, but he clawed back the steering wheel and just managed to stay on the road as he skidded around the corner on two wheels. "I'm a minute away." He looked quickly back out the rear mirror. "Crap! they're gaining."

Mac charged toward the back gate. Anxiety tightening his chest as he gripped his phone tighter. "Floor it Adam!"

Don whirled around and saw the two guys charging out the back door. They were dressed in dark clothing and wearing black balaclava's. He saw them raise their weapons and take aim. He swore loudly and fired several shots at them. They ducked back behind the door, aimed and fired back. Don cursed loudly, turned and bolted through the back gate behind Mac and Lindsay.

Mac's eyes flashed down the road. He saw the Avalanche speeding toward them, the black Van only about 50 metres behind it.

Adam floored the gas pedal as several more bullets whizzed past him. He looked ahead and turned the wheel sharply, slowing the vehicle as he approached them.

Don, Mac and Lindsay sprinted alongside the car. Mac and Don wrenched open the doors and Mac dived in the front passengers side. Don spun around to Lindsay. "Get in!"

"You first!" she shouted.

Don grabbed Lindsay and pushed her into the car. A bullet whizzed passed him and caught his shoulder as he dived in behind her.

Lindsay reached across him and slammed the door shut. She glanced back at Don and her eyes widened when she saw the blood start to seep through his shirt. "My God. Don!"

Mac turned quickly and saw Don clutching his arm.

"It's okay Mac. . ." Don grimaced as the pain shot through his arm. "It . . . hurts like hell. . . but it's . . . just a scratch."

Weapon fire sounded from behind them once again. "You two get down!" Mac shouted.

Lindsay pushed Don down in the seat and covered him.

Mac turned back, his breaths coming fast and rapid as he glanced across at Adam. "You okay?"

Adam stared fearfully out the front window. "Uh . . . I don't know yet." His eyes widened. "Okay which road . . . which road!"

Mac looked quickly ahead. "Go left!"

.

.

Jazeel glanced across at Reuben. "We need to call Wyatt. Let him know what's happening here."

Kennin moved between them and fired several more shots out the shattered windscreen.

Reuben pushed him back. "Stop shooting for a second! I'm driving here!" He shouted angrily.

Jazeel started to dial Wyatt's number.

Reuben muttered a curse and whipped the phone out of his hand. "We wont call him yet. We'll hang back and follow them first. See where they go."

"But Wyatt said go after them and kill em . . ."

"I know what he said dick brain, but Wyatt's not thinking straight. He's losing it."

Aston shoved Kennin out of the way. "What the hell are ya talkin' about?"

Reuben sighed heavily "C'mon guys. Use your brains. They were in Bill Westwood's house for ten minutes." He grinned menacingly. "I reckon they're going to take us to George Brooks, so not only do we get to kill them and discard of their bodies. We get rid of Brooks and the evidence at the same time."

Jazeel glanced back at the road. "They wont take us to him, if we're on their tail."

Reuben slowly pressed his foot down on the brake. "No they wont, so we'll hang back. They'll think they've lost us."

Kennin broke out into a fierce smile. "And we'll be following them right there."

"That's if they take us there. Bill might have said nothing." Aston answered.

Reuben waited until the Avalanche sped around the corner, then he swung the steering wheel sharply and turned into the woods.

Aston leaned forward and stared wide eyed at Reuben. "What are you doing! You're going to lose them."

"For God sake! I'm not that stupid. I know where this road will take them."

"Where?" Jazeel asked.

"Key Highway. This is a direct route to Riverside." He turned back to Jazreel. "A perfect place to kill them and disperse of the bodies. Don't you think?"

.

.

A wave of relief swept through Adam. "We've lost them. Thank God."

Mac looked back out the rear-view mirror and swore inwardly. "We haven't lost them."

Adam's eyes flashed to Mac's. "What?"

"They've hung back on purpose." he muttered angrily.

Don whirled around to take a look out the back window, but froze immediately when the pain tore through his arm. "Argh. . . Dammit!"

Adam's eyes flashed to the back seat. "Oh God. Don's been shot?!"

"Adam!" Mac grabbed the steering wheel and swung it back just before the Avalanche veered off the road. "Stop the car! I'm driving!"

Adam slammed down on the brakes.

Mac looked back up the road. "Okay. Now!"

Adam and Mac quickly got out of the car to change sides.

Lindsay ripped Don's shirt sleeve.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes. "Taking a closer look, you dummy."

"Oh Okay. Well It's just a graze so don't worry about it."

Mac got quickly behind the wheel, Adam dived in the passenger side and they quickly slammed their car doors shut behind them.

"Don. It's a flesh wound." Lindsay replied anxiously, as she inspected it closer. "It's not too deep, but it's still bleeding."

Mac muttered a curse, ripped some material from his shirt and handed it to Lindsay. Then he shifted the car into gear and accelerated back up the road. "Adam. I need to know if this route takes us directly to Key Highway."

Adam tore his eyes from Don and checked his phone. "Yea. Its a straight road. It's about four miles to the highway from here."

"Any roads we can turn off along here?"

Adam stared down at his phone. "No." He replied anxiously.

Lindsay finished bandaging Don's upper arm and gazed nervously at Mac.

Don sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat. "Dammit! They'll be waiting for us at the other end."

Mac tightened his grip on the steering wheel and glared out the front windscreen. He muttered under his breath and slammed down on the brakes.

Don frowned when Mac started to turn the car around. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get Don to a hospital." He sighed heavily and glanced back at Adam and Lindsay. "And you two need to go back to New York." He slowed the car and shifted it into gear.

Don's eyes widened. "No Way! Adam grab the keys!"

Adam quickly reached across Mac and pulled the keys from the ignition.

"Give them back!" Mac launched forward, but he was too slow and Adam wrenched open the car door and jumped out before Mac had a chance to grab him. Mac was about to go after him, but Lindsay and Don shot forward in their seats and grabbed him.

He spun around and stared sternly at them. "Let go of me now."

Don gritted his teeth to stop from yelling out as another bout of pain bolted through him. He released a long, unsteady breath and held Mac's gaze for several seconds. "I'm not going . . . to the damn . . . hospital until we find George Brooks."

"And you can put me on suspended leave when we get back to New York, but I'm not leaving your side until we clear Jo." Lindsay replied.

Mac met her stubborn, determined gaze and raised his voice at her. "I'm your boss. So you're going to do what I say and go back to Manhattan right now!"

Lindsay leaned back in her seat. "No."

Mac swore under his breath, shrugged free of Don's grip and got out of the car.

Adam stepped back as Mac marched toward him.

"Give me the car keys now!"

Adam breathed in a breath for courage. "I'll give you the keys, if you promise to turn the car back around and take us to Riverside. We can drop Don off at a hospital on the way."

Mac reached for the key. "No. I'm taking you and Lindsay back to her car and you're driving out of Baltimore."

Lindsay wrenched open the back door. "Adam!"

Adam's eyes flashed to Lindsay's and he quickly tossed the keys in the air, seconds before Mac grabbed his arm.

She caught them and met Mac's furious gaze. "I think I speak for Adam when I say that, We respect you as a boss Mac. We really do, but we're not at the C.S.I Department now. We're in a situation where Adam and I have a close friend who's in trouble and needs our help. We're not turning our back on her and driving back to Manhattan, even if it means losing our jobs, Jo will still come first."

Mac released Adam and stared back at Lindsay for several seconds. He swallowed back the emotions and tried to focus. "Look. It'll be fine Lindsay. I'll get her back, but you and . . ."

"We'll get her back together." Adam interrupted.

Slowly Mac met Adam's intense gaze. "I don't want you hurt like Don."

_Oh for God sake!_ Don opened the car door and stepped out.

Lindsay stared anxiously up at him. "Get back in here. You shouldn't be walking around."

Don ignored her. "Mac. It's stopped bleeding. I'm fine, and you're not dropping me off at a damn hospital until we get George Brooks back to the Station. Now we're running out of time, so for God sake agree to take us with you or I'll take your keys off Lindsay, drive off and leave you here!"

Mac swore inwardly and released a long breath. "Fine." he muttered wearily and walked quickly back to his car. "Now give me my damn keys Lindsay."

She narrowed her eyes at him."You're agreeing to take us with you right?"

"You've hardly given me a choice have you?" Mac replied, the stern edge back in his voice.

Lindsay smiled. "I guess not. Even with Don's busted shoulder, The three of us could still take you down." She tossed the keys at him and got back in the car.

Adam smiled and brushed passed Mac, walked around to the car and jumped in the back seat.

Mac caught the keys and stared back at them for several seconds finally he puffed out a long breath and got back in the car with Don. He started the engine and turned back to Lindsay and Adam. "If you're coming with me, you have to promise, you wont get hit by a bullet. . ." He stared across at Don and raised his voice. ". . .Any more." Mac glanced anxiously at his shoulder. "How is it?"

"Like I said. It's stopped bleeding. It's fine." Don replied impatiently. "Now let's get out of here."

Mac turned and looked back at the road. "Okay. We're going." Exhaling deeply, he turned the car around and accelerated up the road.

.

.

Wyatt paced nervously around the chiefs office. _Damn it! I can't wait any longer. I have to get that_ confession_ out of her now! _He opened the door and his eye's darted around the room. He caught sight of Tony staring back at him and he cursed inwardly.

Tony released a long, unsteady breath as he continued to gaze across the room at Wyatt. "What am I doing? . . . I can't stand by and do nothing." he whispered. He tore his eyes from Wyatt and rose out of his seat. He glanced around the room and noticed that Shane and Corey were also glancing angrily back at Wyatt. He took several deep breaths and walked toward them. "Shane, Corey. Wyatt's looking my way so stay cool while I tell you this."

Shane shifted his eyes back at Corey. They both nodded and handed Tony the Billings case.

He looked down at it and started talking. "Okay. I gave this guy Adam, George Brooks address."

Shane stared back at Tony. "You what?"

Quickly, Tony shifted his eyes back at Shane. "Stay cool I said."

Shane looked back at the case file in Tony's hand and sighed. "Right."

"Why did you do that?" Corey asked.

"Well we weren't getting anywhere with Bill Westwood. May be Mac and Don will be able to get something out of him."

"This is dangerous Tony. We should get down there. They may need back up."

Tony stood very still and risked a glance back at Wyatt. He was now talking to one of the uniformed officers back in the office.

Shane gazed anxiously back at him. "Tony. We have to start looking into Wyatt Roberts. We've left this too long and now Jo Danville could end up going to Prison for murder."

Slowly Tony met Shane's gaze.

Shane continued. "She didn't do it. You know she didn't. She's been set up and Wyatt's behind this. I just know he is."

Tony dragged his hand through his hair. "You're right. We've got to do something. Keep an eye on Wyatt."

Corey looked toward the office. "He's still busy in there."

Shane scanned the room. "We need to keep an eye on Spencer, Marcus and Justin too."

"Yea we do." Tony sighed, pulled the laptop toward him and accessed the database. "We need Mac and Don's cell phone numbers."

Suddenly several phones started ringing in the busy room. Corey picked it up. "This is detective Corey Reed of the Baltimore P.D . . ." His eyes widened "Where? . . ." _Oh God!_ He looked back at Shane. "We'll be right there." He slammed the phone down. "Shots fired at 52 West Fayette Avenue."

Tony's eyes flashed back at Corey. "Ah Crap! We've got to get over there."

"Lets go!"

.

.

Slowly, Wyatt placed the phone back on the receiver and watched Tony, Corey and Shane, along with several uniformed officers, charge out of the building. Rage and panic slammed his chest. _Crap! I have to move now! _He dashed out the office, crossed the busy room and bolted through the doors into the corridor.

.

.

Brad hung up and gazed back at her. "Jo. I can't get hold of them."

She pushed away from the bars and started pacing. "Why aren't they answering?"

Brad walked toward the cell. "Stop worrying. They probably hit a black spot. I'll try and call them again in a couple of minutes." He heard the heavy doors fly open at the end of the corridor. He looked around and froze to the spot. "Oh my God." His eyes widened and he stepped away from Jo.

She frowned. "Brad?" She started to move to the front of the cell.

Wyatt glared at Brad. "It's over!" He aimed his gun at Brads chest and fired.

Jo slammed to a stop when she heard the gun go off. She screamed his name and slammed against the bars shaking them frantically as Brad fell to the floor, his chest already covered with blood. He just lay there so still, his eyes slowly closing. "No! Brad Look at me! . . . Brad!" She screamed. Then the shock took over and her heart froze in her chest when she saw Wyatt suddenly looming in front of her. Unsteadily she stepped back as he unlocked her cell door. "Why did you do that! What's wrong with you?!" she cried.

"It's time to go Jo."

She blinked back the tears and and tried to take a steady breath. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He moved quickly toward her.

She dodged out of the way and ran out of the cell calling for help, hoping someone up stairs would hear her. She ran down the corridor, trying to get to the heavy metal doors. Unfortunately she hadn't even got half way, before he grabbed her from behind and pulled her against him. She went to scream out again, but he slammed his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" He shouted. Suddenly he heard shouts coming from up the corridor. He swore under his breath and pulled her toward the back exit.

She kicked out at him again and again and tried to get free, but his arm was wound so tight around her, she couldn't move. She could hardly breathe.

He kicked the door hard several times and eventually it flew open, then he half dragged, half carried her out onto the empty side street and across the road to his car.

.

.

Justin, Marcus and Spencer ran up the corridor.

Justin looked behind him and saw several uniforms coming through the doors. "You guys stay back! While we check this out!"

They nodded and waited at the door.

He turned back, smiled inwardly and caught up with Marcus and Spencer.

.

.

Wyatt pulled Jo around to the passenger side, wrenched open the car door, and leaned toward her. "You're driving! And if you try and escape." He pressed his weapon to her head. "You won't get more than several feet away, before I kill you Jo."

He heard her inhale sharply and go very still. He smiled. "Very good. Now get in the car."

He shoved her inside and Immediately she felt his gun dig into her back. She released a shaky breath and quickly slid into the front seat. He jumped in behind her and slammed the car door shut.

Her eyes flashed back at his. "Where are you taking me?"

He glared across at her. "Riverside." He rested his hand on the trigger. "Drive!"

She swallowed back the fear and started the car.

.

.

Justin, Marcus and Spencer watched them drive away.

"I guess Wyatt's decided to do things another way." Justin said.

Marcus nodded. "Looks like it."

Spencer turned back to them. "Ready?"

They nodded and started firing their weapons close to the car as it sped away.

Spencer whirled around and ran back inside to tell the others, that Wyatt had got away.

.

.

"Stay on this road for three miles. Then turn onto the Key Highway! Got It!"

Jo glared across at him for several seconds, then looked back at the road.

Rage slammed through his chest, and he jammed his weapon in into her side. "I said, Have you got it!"

Fear gripped her heart. "Yes! . . .Yes I've got It!"

Slowly he pulled the weapon away from her and she released a long, relieved breath.

"Now just keep driving and stay quiet." He commanded.

Jo blinked back fresh tears and swallowed back the emotions, as the dread soared up in her. _Don't die on me Brad. Please. . . just stay_ _alive. . . You've got to stay alive._

Wyatt grabbed his phone, pressed speed dial and quickly brought it to his ear. "Reuben! Are they still on course for Riverside?"

She shifted her eyes anxiously back at Wyatt.

Reuben sighed heavily and placed the phone onto the hands free device. "Yea, they are." He turned slowly down West Conway Street. "Do not fear Wyatt." He smiled. "George Brooks has to be down here somewhere. Mac and Don wouldn't come all this way, unless they were looking for something . . . or someone."

Wyatt took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. "You're behind them Right."

_Oh God. No._ Jo stared fearfully back at the road.

"A long way behind them. They thought they lost us several miles back. We're driving through the woods so they haven't seen us."

"Good. But don't lose them."

Reuben rolled his eyes. "I won't."

"How long till you get there?"

"At a guess. Ten minutes." Reuben answered.

Wyatt turned and smiled viciously at Jo. "We'll see you in twenty."

Her eyes flashed back at his.

His smile vanished. "Eyes back on the road Jo. If you crash my car, I'll kill you."

Slowly she stared back at the road. _My God. What's going on?_ her heart was racing faster now, thumping like a bass drum in her ears, the terror tightened her chest.

Jazeel looked down at the phone and frowned. "Jo Danville's with you?"

"He smiled evilly. "Yes."

"But Why?" he asked confused.

Wyatt glanced back at Jo. "Have you not heard about Detective Mac Taylor?"

Jo swallowed hard and met Wyatts smug gaze.

Wyatt continued to gaze accross at her. "Nothing gets passed Mac. He's very clever you know. Very good at his Job, so just in case he tries to outwit us. We've got Jo as our bargaining chip."

Jo glared furiously at him.

"He'll hand over the evidence. He'll even hand over George Brooks to get Jo back."

_George Brooks? _Jo's eyes widened. "No!" Her eyes flashed back to the road and she noticed several JCB'S digging up the concrete in the left lane. She slammed her foot on the Gas pedal and sped toward them.

.

.

_**OKAY. . . IS JO GOING TO CRASH INTO THE JCB'S IN AN ATTEMPT TO WIPE WYATT OUT?**_

_**YOU'LL FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER :D**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**I DON'T THINK IT'S TAKEN ME AS LONG AS 4 DAYS TO POST A CHAPTER BEFORE, BUT I HAD A COUPLE OF BUSY DAY'S AND THEN I CELEBRATED MY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY, AND I WAS BACK TOO LATE LASTNIGHT TO WRITE. PLUS I'D HAD A WEE TOO MANY DRINKS. ^-^ !**_

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_**ANYWAY HERE WE ARE AT LONG LAST LOL! ACTION CHAPTER AGAIN :)**_

_**PLEASE R&R. I LOVE READING THEM. **_

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_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_Jazeel looked down at the phone and frowned. "You've got Jo Danville?"_

_Wyatt smiled menacingly. "Yes."_

_Why?" He asked._

_Wyatt glanced back at Jo. "Haven't you heard about Detective Mac Taylor?"_

_Jo swallowed hard and met Wyatt's smug gaze._

"_Nothing gets passed Mac. He's clever you know and very good at his job, So, just in case he outwits us, we've got Jo as our bargaining chip."_

_Jo glared furiously back at him._

_Wyatt continued to stare back at her. "He'll hand over the evidence. He'll even hand over George Brooks to get Jo back."_

_'George Brooks!' Jo's eyes widened. "No!" She quickly looked back at the road and noticed several JCB's digging up the concrete in the left lane. She slammed her foot down on the gas pedal and sped toward them._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 12.**_

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Wyatt's eyes flashed out the front windscreen. He swore loudly and pushed his weapon into Jo's side. "Turn the car around!"

She didn't care if he shot her now. All she cared about was Mac, George and the rest of the team. Wyatt's words rang in her head. '_Mac will do anything to keep you safe_.' She knew that to be true, which meant none of them would be safe if she turned up with Wyatt.

Suddenly he launched himself at the steering wheel and tried to turn it back, but Jo managed to hang onto it and the car continued to speed across the lane toward the enormous yellow vehicles.

Wyatt pushed down on the trigger. "Turn back now" he screamed.

She saw the backhoe loader. It had been pretty high up, but one of the workers was now lowering it. She veered the car slightly to the left in a last ditch attempt to ram the passenger side into the backhoe loader. The workers saw her, jumped out of their vehicles and ran for cover.

Wyatt glared across at her. "Turn the car around, or i'll have Mac killed!" He pressed the phone to his ear and stared furiously back at her. "Jo! My men are following his vehicle as we speak and I _**will**_ give Reuben the go ahead to kill them all, right now, if you don't get back on the lane!" He screamed.

Jo's heart raced, her breaths coming fast, rapid. She shifted her eyes back at Wyatt, and in that split second of distraction she released her grip on the steering wheel.

Wyatt saw the JCB looming in front of him, the backhoe loader seconds away from crashing through the windscreen and flattening him like a pancake. He yanked the steering wheel from her grasp and turned it sharply. The loader missed the window by millimetres and ended up scraping along the side of his car instead.

Suddenly he saw Jo take her foot off the gas pedal. He pressed the weapon harder to her side. "You want Mac to die?!"

Her eyes flashed back at his. "You're lying." She shouted shakily.

Wyatt looked through the rear- view mirror and saw not only the workers, but several people now getting out their cars and running toward them. He glanced quickly back at her. "You think I'm lying?" He put the phone on loud speaker. "Reuben! Go after Mac's vehicle and kill them all!"

.

.

Reuben swore under his breath and swerved the van to the edge of the tree line. "I can see his car from here." he turned to Kennin and Aston. "Shoot at the tyres!"

Jo's eyes widened. "No!" She hesitated, then pushed her foot down on the gas and accelerated back across the road, slamming through several vehicles as she went.

.

.

Pete Mannings, one of the construction workers stood there completely stunned, as he watched the car speed away.

Gary, one of his work colleagues ran up to him. "That Guy had a gun!"

Pete spun around to him. "My God! Are you sure?!"

"Absolutely certain." Gary answered.

Pete grabbed his phone and called the Police Department.

.

.

Jo finally managed to get the car back under control and into the right lane. She blinked back the tears and forced herself to calm down.

Wyatt glared at her, his eyes, hard, fierce. "I promise you! If you try something like that again. Mac and the rest of your team _**will**_ be killed!"

She swallowed into an aching throat and stayed silent.

.

.

Don shifted his eyes back to the tree line. "We have to draw them away from Riverside. We can't lead them right to Brooks."

"I know," Mac sighed "but there are still no roads to turn back on Don."

Adam looked anxiously out of the side window. "We need to take them down."

Lindsay rolled his eyes.

"Adam we don't know how many of them are _**in**_ that van and those tyres are bullet proof." Mac explained. "The body work on that vehicle must also be bullet proof. Our bullets pinged off that van earlier." He looked back at the road. "Just let me think a minute." Suddenly his phone started ringing. He drew it out of his pocket and checked the display. _Unidentified caller. _"Detective Mac Taylor . . ."

"Mac. Where the hell are you?!"

Mac frowned. "Tony?"

Tony gripped his phone tighter and scanned the area. "Yea it's me. You were here at 52 West Fayette Avenue right?" he asked impatiently.

Mac stared back at Don and quickly slid his phone onto the hands free device. "Uh . . . yea. We were . . . there."

Tony muttered a curse. "Well you're not here now and neither is Bill Westwood."

Don raised his eyebrows at Mac, and Lindsay and Adam exchanged knowing glances.

Mac looked back at the tree line and noticed, the van was edging back into the woods. "Is this a secure line?" he said his voice low, steady.

"No one's listening in or tracking us Mac. Now for God sake tell me where you are?!"

Mac sighed inwardly we've just turned off Key Highway."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "You're at Riverside?"

"Yea. Bill gave us George Brooks location. The problem is, we've just caught sight of a black van following us. I'm not leading these guys to Brooks." Mac turned the corner and looked ahead. Dammit! The road was taking them down the small cliff face directly to Light Street. "Tony we need back up. "He slowed the car and drew it to a stop along the side of the road. "We've just turned onto E McComas Street."

"We're on our way."Tony hung up and hurried over to one of the uniformed Officers. "Stay here and cordon off these two properties."

The officer nodded and hurried away.

Tony signalled to Shane and Corey. "We've got to get to E McComas Street ASAP!" They ran back to their cars, jumped in and accelerated off down the road.

.

.

George looked through his binoculars and cursed loudly when he noticed the black van through the trees. He gripped the phone tighter and moved quickly through the kitchen into the back room. "Bill. I told you not to say anything." . . . He chucked the binoculars on his desk, retrieved the floppy disc from the computer and started jamming the files into his bag. He came to an abrupt stop, pressed the phone closer to his ear. "Jo's What?" . . . He closed his eyes and dragged his hand through his hair. "My God." he whispered.

.

.

Lindsay looked back into the woodland. "I can't see the van now." she said anxiously.

Mac cursed under his breath. "Neither can I." He looked along the road and noticed the turning about several hundred metres away?"

Don followed Mac's gaze. "That's Light Street right?"

"Yea." Mac pulled away from the side of the road and started to drive slowly along E McComas Street. "Lindsay. Keep your eyes on the woodland. Let me know when you see that Black Van again."

"What are you gonna do?" Adam asked nervously.

"Like i said to Tony, we're just going to drive right passed Light Street and lead them away from here." Mac answered.

Don leaned back in his seat and released a long breath. "Great."

Adam glanced back at the Laptop. He bypassed another code and a mass of information came up on the page. He raised his eyebrows. "Mac that black Van belongs to Tom Ramsay. He owns a Car Sales Business in Maryland and several Scrap Yards here in Baltimore. 176 Lewell Road and 5a Tanner Street."

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Mac muttered.

.

.

Wyatt grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear. "What now Reuben?!" He said angrily.

"They know we're here Wyatt. They stopped by the side of the road several minutes ago. They're moving again now, but slowly." He glanced out of the side window. " . . . and we're passing the Cove. If they do know where Brooks is, I reckon they're leading us away from him."

Tony turned and smiled menacingly to Jo. "They'll tell us where he is."

Jo quickly looked back at him. "Wyatt. You're not going to be able to get out of this now. Just turn yourself in and . . ."

"Shut up and drive!"

Jo sighed inwardly and went to gaze back out the windscreen. Suddenly she felt something under her foot. She frowned, shifted her eyes back to Wyatt. He was still on the phone, and was now gazing intently out of the front windscreen. Slowly, she reached down and grabbed it. _My God. It's a knife!_ Carefully she brought it toward her and slipped it inside her pocket.

_This plan couldn't have gone any better._ "I'll see you all in a minute." He hung up and glanced smugly back at Jo. "Slow down and turn right at the end of this road."

She kept her foot pressed down on the accelerator.

The smile vanished from his face and he raised his gun at her head. "DO IT!" He roared

She let out a long heavy breath, released her foot off the gas pedal and indicated right

.

.

Suddenly Lindsay and Adam saw the black Van tearing out onto the road.

Lindsay spun around in her seat. "Mac! The van's speeding towards us!"

"Dammit!" Mac slammed his foot down on the gas and floored it.

Lindsay and Don grabbed their guns and aimed them out of the shattered rear window.

"Adam! Get down!" Don shouted. Adam ducked and Don aimed his weapon at the vans front windscreen, and fired.

Lindsay muttered under her breath when she saw the bullet bounce off the glass.

Don cursed loudly and fired a few more shots.

Lindsay lowered her weapon and turned quickly back to Mac. "Can't we go any faster?"

Mac cursed inwardly. "I'm flooring it already."

.

.

George Brooks ran out of the house and grabbed his motorbike. He heard the sound of several vehicles speeding along E McComas street and quickly glanced up the road. "Ah crap!"

.

.

Mac glanced quickly in the rear-view mirror. They were making some ground.

Don looked back at the road and his eyes widened. "Mac! Stop!"

Mac's eyes flashed out the front windscreen and he noticed a blue SUV speeding toward them. He glanced closer and his heart froze in his chest. "Jo!"

_Oh God! It's Mac!_ Jo slammed down on the brakes and skidded across the road, bringing the car to a shuddering halt.

Lindsay and Adam spun around. "What's going on?" Adam asked.

Mac hit the brakes and skidded to stop.

Don glared at Wyatt. "You Sonofabitch."

The black Van behind them, slowed to a stop and Jezeel, Kennin, Reuben and Aston jumped out.

It was through a red wave of fear and fury that Jo wrenched open the car door and charged out onto the road. "Mac! Get out of here now!"

Mac surged out of the car and drew his weapon, the air suddenly stooling in his lungs, when he saw Wyatt jump out behind her.

Wyatt was so fast. He pulled her back, tightened his arm around her shoulders and pointed his weapon at her before she she had time to blink.

Mac aimed his gun at Wyatt and the overwhelming terror clawed through his heart, reminding him what it was to fear for more than your own life.

.

.

Tony hung up and grabbed the radio. "Mac's phone's gone to voice mail."

Shane pulled the radio toward him. "Tony I've called the Riverside P.D. Several residents have already called the station reporting a disturbance along E McComas Street. Units are on their way."

"Okay. . . Oh God." He took a deep breath, looked back at the road and pushed his foot back down on the gas. "It shouldn't take more than five minutes for us to get there."

.

.

Lindsay turned to Adam. "Stay in the car."

In stunned shock, Adam nodded numbly as he stared out the front windscreen at Jo and Wyatt.

Lindsay slowly stepped out of the car behind Don and aimed her weapon at Wyatt. "Hang on Jo." She whispered.

Mac stared furiously across at Wyatt. "Get away from her or I _**will**_ kill you!"

Wyatt grinned maliciously at him and pressed his weapon to her head. "I don't think so Mac."

Suddenly Don heard footsteps behind them. He tore his eyes from Wyatt and looked back. _Ah_ _Crap!_

Wyatt gazed across at Lindsay and Don. "Surrender your weapons now. . ." He glared back at Mac. "You too, or Jo's dead."

Mac, Don and Lindsay didn't move.

Jo couldn't stop thinking about the knife in her pocket, but how was that going to be of any help to them, when they had five guns pointed at them? She watched fearfully as Reuben walked around Mac's car, reached through the broken window, unlocked the door and pulled Adam out. Her eyes flashed back at Wyatt "There are going to be a whole ton of Police Officers turning up very soon. Just do yourself a favour and . . ." She was stopped mid sentence by Wyatt wrapping his arm so tightly around her, she could barely breath.

Immediately, Mac noticed the rage in Wyatt's eyes. and panic gripped his heart.

Wyatt swung back his weapon. "I told you to shut up!"

Panic gripped Mac's heart. "STOP! . . . Okay. I'm lowering the gun. Just . . . don't hit her." He dropped his weapon and met her gaze.

_No!_ She shook her head frantically at him, swallowed back the heartache, and stood there helplessly as she watched Lindsay and Don do the same.

.

.

George watched from behind several tall Oaks as Mac, Don and Lindsay's weapons were taken from them. He lifted the camera and snapped several more shots. These one's of Wyatt holding Jo at gun point, then he turned around and handed the camera to Ben Saunders, a resident living in one of the houses at the top of Light Street "Take this inside and lock the doors." He handed him a scrap of paper with a cell phone number written on it. "Call this number. You will get through to a Tony Lockhurst. Tell him George Brooks has handed you a camera and that he needs to come and collect it from you ASAP. Tell him it's evidence against a Detective Wyatt Roberts who works at the Baltimore P.D."

Ben nodded and disappeared behind the trees. George watched him until he got safely inside his property. Then turned back to Jo and Wyatt and waited.

.

.

Mac took a step toward him. "Just let her go Wyatt."

Anxiety clawed at Don's chest when he saw Wyatt pull Jo roughly against him.

"No! Tell me where George Brooks is?!" Wyatt screamed.

Fear bolted through Mac when he noticed her struggling to breath. Wyatt was damn near strangling her. "Wyatt just calm down. We can talk about this."

.

.

George leaned back against the tree and released a long, unsteady breath. This was a stupid plan. He knew it. No way was Wyatt going to take this bag and just let them all go, but the Riverside P.D still hadn't turned up yet and he couldn't stand by and do nothing, especially when Mac was getting dangerously close to being shot for saving his damn arse. He stared back down the road to Wyatt, and noticed his arm tightening around Jo's throat. Rage shot through him like a fire ball.

.

.

"Tell me now Mac!" Wyatt screamed furiously.

Jo had had enough and was seriously thinking about slamming her elbow into Wyatts ribs, when suddenly she caught sight of George walking out from behind an Oak tree about 30 feet down the road.

Mac saw Jo's eyes widen. He quickly followed her gaze and caught sight of a man walking passed him.

Jo shook her head frantically at him as he walked up to her. "George. . . Stay back!"

Wyatt tightened his grip around her and she bit back a scream as the burning pain hit her windpipe.

"Jo!" Mac surged forward, but was pulled back by Jazeel and Kennin. "Just let her go you sonofabitch!"

Wyatt glared angrily at Mac. "Shut him up!"

Kennin grabbed Mac's other wrist and Jazeel moved quickly in front of him and landed his fist in Mac's face.

Jo gasped as she watched Jazeel deliver a second blow, this time to his ribs. She tried to pull away but Wyatt continued to grip her tightly and she couldn't move. "Leave him alone!" she shouted.

Don tried to get to Mac, but Aston grabbed his injured arm and Don yelled out as the excruciating pain shot through him.

Adam and Lindsay quickly started toward Don and Mac, but Reuben pushed them both back and aimed his weapon at them. "Don't move!"

Jo's eyes flashed back at Don and immediately she noticed the blood seeping from his arm. "Oh God." She said shakily.

He gritted his teeth and met her fearful gaze. _I'm okay._

She glanced back at Lindsay and Adam. Physically they looked fine. Her eyes shot back to Mac. Kennin and Jazeel were now pulling him up off the ground.

Wyatt grinned wickedly and turned back to George. "I know you've got evidence against me." He pressed his weapon back to Jo's head. "Now tell me where it is or she dies."

Jo tore her eyes from Mac, swallowed hard and met George's intense gaze.

George frowned inwardly and continued to glance at her for several more seconds. She was trying to tell him something. He lowered his gaze and suddenly worked it out. _She's signing! She's finger spelling!_

Mac followed George's gaze and glanced closer at her hand. Fear rose up in him as he spelt out the two words. _Get. . . ready. _His eyes flashed back at hers. _God No. Jo. Please. . ._ Panic took over once again, and he shot forward. "Just let her go!" Reuben and Jazeel grabbed him, jolted him backwards, and it sent an intense pain slamming through his ribs. Mac gritted his teeth and didn't take his eyes off her for a second.

George glanced back at Wyatt. "You want the evidence?" He yanked the bag off his shoulder. "Here it is."

Jo gazed wide eyed at George. _What are you doing?_

Wyatt reached for the bag.

George swung it out of Wyatts reach. "This is between Me and you. Let Jo and the rest of her team go and I'll give you the bag." He was stooling for time here. There was no way that was going to happen.

Wyatt glared at George. "No. I'm taking the bag." He shifted his eyes to Mac and leaned closer to her.

She turned her face away from him. He grabbed her chin roughly and pulled her back toward him.

Fury slammed Mac's chest and he tried once again to get free of Reuben and Jazeel's grip.

Wyatt brushed his lips to her cheek and grinned maliciously back at him. " . . . And I'm taking Jo too."

"NO!" Mac surged forward with so much force that Jazeel released his arm.

Jo pulled out the blade and plunged it into Wyatts side.

.

.

_**NEXT CHAPTER IS VERY LIKELY TO BE UP MONDAY NIGHT BECAUSE I HAVE NO WORK FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS **_


	13. Chapter 13

_**HEY GUYS :)**_

_**HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER. HOE YOU ENJOY!**_

_**PLEASE R&R :D**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

_._

_._

_Wyatt glared at George. "I'm taking the bag." He shifted his eyes to Mac and leaned closer to Jo._

_She turned her face away, but he grabbed her chin and pulled her back toward him._

_Fury slammed Mac's chest and he tried once again to get free of Reuben and Jazeel._

_Wyatt brushed his lips to her cheek and grinned maliciously at him. ". . . And I'm taking Jo."_

"_NO!" Mac surged froward with so much force, Jazeel released his arm._

_Jo pulled out the blade and plunged it into Wyatts side._

_._

_._

_**CHAPTER 13.**_

.

.

Tony tore around the corner into E McComas Street and just made out the Black Van and two other vehicles at the end of the road. He grabbed his radio. "Shane, Corey I have sight of them." He looked closer. "Jesus Christ. . . They're in trouble." He slammed his foot on the gas and sped up the road toward them.

.

.

Wyatt fell back and cashed to the ground clutching at his side. The gun flew out of his hand and clattered across the concrete.

George moved quickly to Jo and started to pull her away.

"Get off me!" She shrugged free of his grip and reached down for Wyatt's gun.

.

.

Mac whirled around and smashed his elbow into Jazeel's face so hard he sunk to the ground. Jazeel's eyes turned buggy and he faded into unconsciousness. Mac reached for his gun and suddenly Reuben grabbed him from behind. This only served to fuel Mac's anger and he swung his arm around, making heavy contact with Reuben's chest. He staggered back and Mac spun around, slammed his fist into Reuben's stomach and sent him flying backwards.

In the mean time, Adam had launched forward and punched Kennin square in the face. He went down Immediately and Lindsay grabbed Kennin's gun and pointed it at him. "Don't move!"

Don had also swung his good arm at Aston and knocked him backwards, but Aston managed to stay on his feet and was now aiming his weapon back at Don. However. Adam tore toward him and body slammed him to the ground.

Don grabbed his gun and aimed it at Aston's chest. "Move one muscle and I'll shoot you, you sonofabitch." He glanced back at Adam, who was getting up and dusting himself off. "Good Job."

"I did a lot of fighting in college." He answered breathlessly.

Don's eyes flashed back at Mac and he saw him handcuffing a half conscious Reuben and a totally unconscious Jazeel to the Van door handle. He followed Mac's intense gaze and noticed, Jo was aiming a weapon at Wyatt, shouting for George to get out of her way. His eyes widened. "Crap."

Mac ran up to George and gazed anxiously across at her "Jo?"

She couldn't stop the tears now. They streamed down her face. She swiped them away with her sleeve, grabbed the weapon tighter and aimed it at Wyatt's chest.

Wyatt stilled, his eyes feral and dawning with recognition that he had been caught.

Wave after wave of rage slammed through her as she stared down at him. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Brad."

Mac's eyes widened. _Oh God! Brad? . . . _

"You bitch." Wyatt spat. "You're not sending me to jail."

Jo glared hatefully back at him. "No. . . I'm not."

.

.

Don heard sirens and looked back along the road. A couple of dark vehicles were speeding toward them with a line of Patrol Cars and a Police Van following close behind. He released a long, relieved breath, quickly turned back to Adam and handed him the gun. "Make sure he doesn't move." He spun back around and ran along the road toward Mac and Jo.

.

.

Mac took several deep breaths, willed himself to stay calm and stepped in front of her. "Jo. Give me the gun."

"No. Mac . . . just move out of the way." She said breathlessly.

"You're not a killer Jo."

She blinked back the tears. "He deserves to die. He. . . He shot Brad."

Don slammed to a stop beside George. _What?_ Slowly he met George's anxious gaze.

Mac's heart wrenched in his chest and fear and fury raged through him. He inhaled sharply and wrestled with his temper. He had to shut this out. Stay sharp, focused. He released a long unsteady breath and slowly reached for the gun. "He deserves to go to prison, but you don't." He grasped the weapon and felt her hands tremble as she continued to grip it tightly. "I'm not going to let you do this Jo."

Slowly she glanced up at him, held his gaze and a long immeasurable moment passed between them.

Mac suddenly felt her hands loosen around the weapon and quickly he whisked it away from her. Don grabbed Wyatts gun and released a long, relieved breath.

.

.

About a dozen Officers ran up to Lindsay and Adam, grabbed Jazeel, Reuben, Aston and Kennin and dragged them to the Police Van.

Mac led Jo across the road to the side walk and quickly turned her to face him. "Are you okay?"

She said nothing.

"Jo . . ." Suddenly he noticed that she had started shivering. "It's okay. You're gonna be fine."He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Then he brought his arms around her and held her against him.

Tony ran up to Mac and glanced at Jo. "Everything all right?"

Jo pulled away from Mac and whirled around to Tony. "Brad's okay, Isn't he?"

"Uh . . ." Tony stared back at her. "He er . . ."

She swallowed hard. "Tony? . . ."

Tony shifted his eyes back at Mac. "I called the station a couple of minutes ago and . . ." _Dammit. _He met her fearful gaze. "Jo. I'm sorry. He . . . didn't make it."

A soul deep ache gripped her chest in a vise. "No! . . . He has to be okay!"

Grief clogged Mac's throat threatening to spill over. He tore his eyes from Tony, pulled Jo back against him and started to lead her back to the Avalanche.

Tony quickly turned around. "Wait. Jo needs to come to the station and give us a statement . . ." He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Mac turn and fix him with a stern glare.

"She's not going back to that damn Police Station. You can come by and get it tomorrow morning at her place. Not before!" Mac shot him a warning look, then turned and continued to lead her to his car.

.

.

_**Several hours later, **_Wyatt was meeting with Mac, Don, Lindsay and Adam in Jo's office to fill them in on the latest developments on the case.

Mac stared across the desk at him. "What did you just say?"

Tony pushed out a long breath and glanced back at Mac. "Wyatt Roberts has been arrested for drug trafficking and for . . . multiple counts of murder." He repeated. "He confessed to killing Marcie Finnigan, Taabe Penateka, Daniel Tyler, Billy Hearn and Charla Rogers and . . . of course Brad. He'll be going to prison for the rest of his life."

Mac walked around the table toward him, the pure, focused anger igniting in him like a fireball. "You knew he was a crooked cop, but you did nothing!" He went to grab him, but Don pulled him back. "Mac, calm down."

Tony sighed inwardly and started to pace. "We found out Wyatt's been stealing drugs and having them imported. To cover this up he's been fabricating evidence and when people have found out about his criminal activities and threatened to go to the police, he's murdered them or had one of the gang members do it for him."

"How long had Wyatt been doing this?" Adam asked angrily.

"A couple of years."

Lindsay's eyes widened. "A couple of years?"

"It's pretty easy to get away with it when you're wearing a badge." Tony turned back to Mac and Lindsay saw the guilt flicker in his eyes.

"I've known some thing's been going on for several months. I didn't say anything. I was a coward, but then . . . Jo got caught up in this and today I. . . saw sense." Tony sighed heavily. "I won't be coming around for Jo's statement tomorrow morning. George Brooks is taking my job. I've been suspended, but I'm gonna hand in my resignation." He raised his hands. "I can't arrest you now, so go ahead, punch my lights out. I deserve it."

Mac pulled away from Adam and Don and glared at Tony. "Just get out of here, before I do something I regret."

Tony gazed across the room at the team. "Tell Jo I'm sorry . . . for everything." He turned and walked out of the office.

Mac heard the front door slam shut behind them and he sighed inwardly.

"Stupid sonofabitch." Don muttered angrily. He went to cross his arms, but another bout of pain shot through his shoulders. "Argh Crap!"

Adam shook his head at him. "For God Sake Don, Just take the pain meds the hospital prescribed you."

"Fine." Don muttered. He pulled the tablets out of his pocket, then grabbed his bottle of water and washed a couple down.

Lindsay gazed at her phone and released a heavy breath. She'd texted Danny saying that they were all okay, but she hadn't had a chance to talk to him properly yet. She really didn't feel like going over everything that had happened. She was dreading telling him about Brad. "I have . . . 20 missed calls. I'm going to take a walk along the street and call Danny."

Mac quickly turned to face her. "I don't want you on your own. Tom Ramsay's still out there somewhere."

Lindsay pushed out a breath. "Fine. I'll take the call through there."

Don watched Lindsay disappear into the kitchen. He turned, walked to the window and looked out. The Riverside Police Department had been to the two scrap yards that Tom supposedly owned, but the whole place had been cleared out and Tom Ramsay was no where to be found. They'd also had a call from the Local Police department in Maryland. The notice on the front door of Ramsay's Car Sales Business had read; _**Closed until further notice. **_Search teams were out looking for him, road blocks had been put up around Baltimore and there was plenty of media coverage out already, but as of yet there had still been no sign of him.

Don looked out at the road. Several Officers were surrounding the property. The Police Department had insisting, all four of them have Police Protection until they left Baltimore. Don turned back to Mac. "When are we leaving?"

Mac collapsed into the chair behind the desk. "First thing in the morning. We need to get some sleep first."

Don gazed back out the window. "Lindsay and I are going to crash in the next room."

Mac frowned. "Jo's got a spare room upstairs, and the lounge. It's much more comfortable."

He glanced back at Mac, and winked at him. "We'll give you two some space."

_Oh for God Sake. _Mac leaned back in his seat and rubbed his forehead.

Don's smile vanished. "But seriously, Lindsay and I have had a chat and we've decided, we'd rather be down here." He gazed suspiciously back out the window.

Mac leaned forward in the chair, his frown deepening. "Don. We _**have**_ Police Protection."

"We know, but Lindsay and I want to keep a look out too."

Mac sighed heavily and rose from the chair. "Those Officers out there are not from the Baltimore P.D. They're from Riverside. They're good cops Don. And you were injured today. You need some rest."

Don released a heavy breath and turned back to Mac. "We're staying down here Mac."

Mac knew he wasn't going to change his mind. "Okay fine, but if you wanna come up later, I'll let you in."

Don fixed Mac with a determined gaze. "We won't."

.

.

Danny heard his phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out quickly and checked caller ID. "Oh Thank God." He pressed the phone to his ear. "Lindsay where the hell have you been. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. . ."

"Why the hell didn't you answer my calls. I've been going out of my mind here."

Sheldon came flying into the lab and stared wide eyed at Danny. "They're okay?"

Danny put the phone on loud speaker. "Lindsay. What's been going on?"

Lindsay grabbed the phone tighter in her hand. "It's okay Danny. We drove to Riverside to try and find a George Brooks. He had evidence that Wyatt was carrying out criminal activities. Wyatt caught up with us and things got a little messy, but he's been arrested and Jo's been released. When we get back in the morning I'll fill you in on all the details."

A huge wave of relief swept through Sheldon and he smiled back at Danny. "That's brilliant news."

Lindsay swallowed into an aching throat. "But I . . . have some bad news."

The smile faded from Danny's face. "What?"

Sheldon moved quickly toward him and stared anxiously down at the phone.

"Wyatt shot Brad." Lindsay said quietly

"Oh God." Sheldon whispered.

Lindsay released a long ragged breath. "He didn't make it."

Danny stood there frozen to the spot. "Brads . . . dead?"

Lindsay turned back and gazed through the door into the office. "Yes. Look. I can't talk about this now. Mac's just in the next room. He and Jo are really upset and I can't take this call somewhere more private, because I can't leave Jo's place."

Danny frowned. "Why?"

Lindsay took a deep breath. They haven't caught Tom Ramsay yet, so we're under Police Protection. Mac's not letting me leave."

Fear gripped Danny's heart. "You stay in that house Linds! Don't go out. You here me?!"

_Great! Now i've gone and scared him half to death! _"Danny don't worry. We're all safe. I'll call back in an hour."

"Linds? . . " Danny stared fearfully down at the phone. "She's . . . hung up." He went to press speed dial.

"Danny."

He tore his eyes from the phone and glanced back at Sheldon.

"She'll be fine. C'mon. Let's go to the bar and grab a beer."

Danny hesitated. He released a long, pent up breath and gazed back down at his phone. "Okay. . I can do that."

.

.

Mac stayed downstairs with Don and Lindsay for another half hour before he went back upstairs to Jo's apartment. When he unlocked the door and walked inside he saw her curled up in the chair gazing out of the window. He sighed, shut the door and walked into the kitchen. "Couldn't sleep?"

She glanced back at Mac. "No." She looked back at the Police Cruisers. "I'm guessing, Tom Ramsay hasn't been found yet?"

Mac walked to the fridge and brought out the milk. "No. But they _**will**_ find him." He placed the milk on the counter and glanced back at her for several seconds. She looked so tired. "You need to try and stop thinking about this okay? How about some warm milk. It'll help you sleep."

She leaned back in the chair. "No thanks. I'm fine." She answered quietly.

He released a long, heavy breath and walked back out of the kitchen. He grabbed a chair, pulled it up to the window and sat down next to her. "Jo." He watched her for several more seconds as she continued to gaze out of the window, then he reached across and took her hand in his.

Immediately she tightened her grip on him. "I can't get it out of my head." She whispered.

A moment of silence stretched between them. Finally Mac spoke. "Tell me." He said softly.

She closed her eyes and tried to block out the terrible images. "It happened so fast. One minute Brad was standing there. . . and the next, he just . . ." She swallowed into an aching throat as the emotions threatened to surface once again. "I . . . I didn't hear Wyatt coming and . . . then I heard the gun go off and . . ." Slowly she glanced back at Mac. "I couldn't do anything. I . . . couldn't save him."

Mac got out of the chair, grabbed the blanket off the floor and wrapped it around her, then he scooped her up, slipped into the big arm chair and lowered her onto his lap.

She buried her head in his chest, gripped at his shirt and tried to stop the tears.

He looked down at her and pressed his lips to her forehead. "It's not good to hold it all in you know."

"I don't like to cry in front of . . . people."

He held her closer. "It's okay. You're with _**me**_."

A few more minutes of silence followed, but slowly she crumbled in his arms. It killed him inside to hear her trying to hold back the sobs. To feel her tears drench his shirt.

He held onto her as the sharp sadness gripped his heart and moisture filled his own eyes. _My God._ _I'm never gonna see Brad alive again. _

Fifteen minutes passed before Mac became aware that Jo had become very still. He gazed down at her and noticed she was fast asleep. He smiled inwardly, leaned toward her and kissed her cheek.

Carefully lifting her in his arms, he rose out of the arm chair, walked across the lounge into the bedroom and leaned back against the door, closing it quietly behind him.

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_**SHORTER I KNOW BUT I WANTED TO POST A CHAPTER TONIGHT, BECAUSE I SAID I WOULD. **_

_**I'M TOO TIRED TO PUT A LOVE SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER NOW AND I'M A BIT UNDECIDED HOW I'M GOING TO END THIS STORY. SO I'M HAVIG A LITTLE THINKING TIME BEFORE I WRITE MORE. **_

_**HMMM! MAYBE THEY'LL BE A SEQUEL? :)**_

_**NEXT CHAPTER UP WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH MAC/JO LOVE SCENE. :).**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**HEY :)**_.

_**FIRST OF ALL I WANT TO APOLOGISE FOR TOTALLY CONFUSING YOU GUYS. ONE MINUTE I'M TYPING 'BEN RAMSAY ' THEN I START TYPING 'TOM RAMSAY.'**_

_**I JUST GOT THIS THING IN MY HEAD THAT HE WAS TOM RAMSAY. I WASN'T EVEN AWARE I'D DONE IT UNTIL I READ THE STORY BACK TODAY. . . . SO BECAUSE I'VE TYPED HIS NAME AS TOM RAMSAY MORE TIMES THEN BEN RAMSAY, HIS NAME IS ((((( TOM RAMSAY))))))) YES! TOM RAMSAY IS HIS NAME LOL! **_

_**SO HERE'S THE LAST CHAPTER, WITH THE LOVE SCENE. ITS AN 'M' RATED CHAPTER PEEPS :D I'M GOING TO HAVE TO CHANGE THIS WHOLE STORY TO AN M RATING NOW, AFTER WRITING THIS LOVE SCENE LOL! IT GOT ME PRETTY HOT UNDER THE COLLAR. :)**_

_**THANKYOU S MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS. LOVE YOU GUYS .**_

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_**End Of Previous Chapter.**_

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_Jo buried her head in Mac's chest, gripped his shirt and tried to stop the tears._

_Mac looked down at her and pressed his lips to her forehead. "It's not good to hold it in you know?"_

"_I don't like to cry in front of . . . people." she said, her voice, now barely above a whisper._

_He held her close. "That's okay. You're with **me.**"_

_A few more moments of silence passed, then slowly, she began to crumble in his arms. He died a little inside when he heard her trying to hold back the sobs. Felt her tears drench his shirt. He held onto her as the sharp aching sadness gripped his heart and moisture filled his own eyes. 'My God. I'm never going to see Brad alive again.'_

_Fifteen minutes passed before Mac became aware that Jo had become very still. He gazed down at her and noticed she was fast asleep. He smiled inwardly, leaned forward and kissed her cheek._

_He watched her sleeping for a few more minutes, before carefully lifting her in his arms and rising out of the chair. Then he walked across the lounge and into the bedroom, leaned back against the door and closed it quietly behind them._

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_**CHAPTER 14.**_

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Alot happened in the next two weeks after they'd returned to New York. Lindsay had a couple of days off to spend with Lucy and Jo took a week off before returning to the Department, and to an office filled with 78 bright yellow balloons.

CNN had given the story of Wyatt Roberts a lot of air play and it was painful for Mac and Jo to watch, but even more so for Brad Higgins family, and the families of the victims who'd been caught up in Wyatt's terrible crimes.

The whole of the Baltimore P.D was shut-down for four days while the sheriff sifted out the corrupt Cops from the department, but George Brooks was now back where he belonged and the Major Crimes Division was now running like clockwork and cracking cases like there was no tomorrow.

Amazingly, the copy of the missing evidence report had been found half burnt up in Tom Ramsay's Apartment. It also come to light that several CSI Detectives, a Hugh Garrett and Marissa Cleveland, had found Tom Ramsay's and Reuben Martyn's DNA in Jo's office, but Wyatt had offered them a couple of thousand dollars to keep quiet. They took the money and did just that and Wyatt set about changing the third report. George Higgins and several Officers found it hidden in his locker.

After closer inspection Corey and Shane also discovered that the serial number on the gun planted in Jo's office had been altered. The CSI Department also realised that Hugh Garrett and Marissa Cleveland had been given the job of searching for prints and other trace evidence on the money found at Jo's place. The results analysis sheet said that they'd found only Jo's DNA on the money. Hugh and Marissa had signed both copies. The CSI Department checked the evidence again and weren't surprised to find, that Tom Ramsay's and Reuben Martyn's DNA was all over the money, not Jo's. A few days later Reuben confessed that he and Tom planted the evidence in Jo's office after she left early that morning to return to the crime scene.

Kennin also weakened under the strain of interrogation and told Police that Tom Ramsay had been spying on Jo for weeks waiting for an opportunity to take her down. He said that Tom was in an alley just outside her building that evening, when he saw her tear out of there after Marty Bosch. Kennin went on to tell the police that it was in that split second, Tom said he wasn't going to kill her and that setting her up for murder would be a much better plan. He wanted her to suffer long and hard for ruining his gambling business and putting his brother in prison.

Wyatt Roberts, Justin Dalton, Marcus Lee, Spencer Patel, Hugh Garrett, Marissa Cleveland and several other Police Officers were now serving a life sentence in Baltimore Prison. However, Tom Ramsay still hadn't been found and so far no one knew, not even Jo, that Mac had become totally obsessed in finding him. He'd had several lengthy phone conversations with George Brooks already.

Jo moved in with Mac after they returned to New York. She sold her apartment and Mac had her couch moved to his place. The last week had been a little difficult at times juggling their personal and professional relationship, but it seemed to be working out fine now. Today however, had been a hard day because it was Brad Higgins funeral. After the wake, Mac tried to persuade Jo to take the rest of the afternoon off, but she refused and buried herself in work instead. He couldn't argue with her because he ended up burying himself in paperwork as well.

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Jo was sitting on the bed flicking through photo's of Brad when Mac walked into the bedroom later that evening.

She grabbed the photo's and quickly pushed them under the pillow.

Mac gazed across at her as he shut the door behind him. "Hey. You okay?"

Quickly she met his gaze and faked a smile. "I'm fine. What have you been up to in your office?"

"Just . . . tidying up." He held her gaze for several seconds. "You don't have to hide those photo's you know."

She sighed inwardly, pulled them out from under the pillow and placed them on the bedside table. "I didn't want to . . . upset you." She answered quietly.

He walked up to her, put her mug of hot chocolate on the bedside table and glanced down at one of the photo's. His eyes widened. "That was taken last year when the two of us spent the day with Brad and his family."

A shadow of a smile crossed her face. "Yea. That was a good day."

He got into bed beside her and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "It was."

She pressed trembling fingers to his lips and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. "I miss him."

He moved closer, took her hand in his and kissed it. "Me too."

Heat and passion rose within her like an awakening flame burning through the exhaustion and grief, as he leaned toward her and pressed his lips to hers and she tasted his mouth and the salt of her tears.

His arms went around her and he crushed her to him, fitting his body against hers. "I need you." he confessed. His mouth brushed the shell of her ear. "I love you so much."

She kissed his cheek, ran her fingers through his hair. "I love you too. I've never needed anyone the way I need you." He drew away slightly, his piercing blue eyes meeting hers and the tangle of raw feelings soared through her. All she wanted was to lose herself with him. Only him.

She reached out, pulled him toward her and brought his mouth to hers. The kiss deepened and the heat and passion, the erotic sensations blazed through them.

They helped each other undress. Tangled hands, impatient fingers, never losing contact with each other. She moved her hands over his body, familiar territory now. Ridges and planes of muscle and bone. Smooth hot skin. The valley of his spine. His erection straining against her, as hard as marble, as soft as velvet. Then he was touched her, the feel of his fingers tracing her body, driving her closer to the edge, the warm rush, the sweet ache she had known only with him, thrumming through her body once again. Her breath caught at the feel of his mouth on her breast and she shuddered as his fingers moved lower, her body arching automatically to his touch.

Her body quivered and she climaxed, her cries building his own orgasm powerful and intense. He slid into her body and she felt the absolute thrill of him filling her perfectly. The sensation, the wonder of it, sharpening her senses, her desire for more of him. She could see it in his eyes too, as he looked down at her: The intense pleasure, the heat, the hint of desperation that came from knowing this magic happened only with each other. He was the one. The only one.

She held him tighter, dug her nails into his back and moved with him, stronger, harder.

He kissed her deeply, possessively and moved into her with building force.

Time lost all meaning. There were no seconds, only breaths and murmured words. No minutes, just the ebb and flow of pleasure. And when the end finally came, it was with an explosion of emotion and the mix of peace and tension, contentment and completion, until exhaustion overrode all else and they fell asleep in each others arms.

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_**YOU'RE PROBABLY THINKING. "HEY. THAT'S NOT THE END!" NO IT'S NOT. I'm WRITING A SEQUEL. PART " IS GONNA HAVE TONNES OF MESSY ACTION AND DRAMA LIKE MY OTHER STORIES AND I'M GOING TO ADD MORE ROMANTIC MOMENTS AND LOVE SCENES BETWEEN MAC AND JO, IF POSSIBLE. **_

_**I NEED TO SPEND SOME TIME THINKING ABOUT HOW THE SECOND PART OF THIS STORY IS GOING TO GO THOUGH, SO I MIGHT NOT GET THE FIRST CHAPTER UP UNTIL NEXT MONDAY. THANKYOU AGAIN TO ALL OF YU WHO HAVE READ THIS STORY :)**_


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